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SPIRITUAL 

EXPERIENCES, 

INCLUDING SEVEN MONTHS 

WITH THE 

BROTHERS DAVENPORT, 

BY 

EOBEET 'COOPER. 



'It has been the failing of fools in all ages to dis- 
believe whatever they could not account for." 



\t> 



" The Spiritualists, beyond a doubt, are in the track that has led 
to all advancement in physical science; their opponents are the 

representatives of those who have striven against progress 

. . What I deprecate is, not the wariness which widens and 
lengthens inquiry, but the assumption which prevents and narrows 
it."— Professor De Morgan. 

"Testimony has been so abundant and consentaneous, that 
either the facts must be such as they are reported, or the possibility cf 
certifying facts by human testimony must be given up." — Prof. Challis. 



LONDON: 
HEY WOOD & Co., 335, STRAND, W.C. 

1867. 



& 



■*<£* 



LONDON: 
J. H: POWELL, PRINTER, GROVE ROAD, VICTORIA PARKAS. 



CONTENTS. 



;hap. page. 

I.— Electro- Biology. First visit to a Medium. 

Bobby Burns. 1 

II. — Is it Satanic ? Physical Manifestations. 
An Engineer's Testimony. Spirit Writing. 
Seances at Home. Strange Table Move- 
ments. Professor Faraday. ..... 9 

IIL— *The Lock of Hair. A New Medium. Ani- 
mated Music Stool. Writing. Autograph- 
fac-similes. Unknown Tongues. Familiarity 
with the Supernatural. Messages. ... 18 

IV. — Lectures. A Clergyman's Letter. Ghost 
Stories, Molly Downing. A visit from 
Prince Albert 27 

V. — Manifestations in Public. The Facts are. 
published. Diversity of Opinions prevail. 
N angle of Skreen. Vigilans. Golden 
Harps in Heaven. The Hailshum Ghost. 34 

VI. — Spiritualism at Lewes. Manifestations of 
Bigotry and Rowdyism. Sparrows. Squibs 
and Crackers. Personal Danger. In the 
Dark. Escape 46 

VII. — Another Lecture. A Noble Chairman. 
Conespondence. A Mare's Nest. A 
Nocturnal Visit. 56 



CONTENTS. 
CHAP. PAGE. 

VIII. — Lecture at Brighton. A Clerical Opponent. 
Affray at Southsea. Lectures at Ryde. 
A Scientific Witness. Ventnor. South- 
ampton, &c 88 

IX. — An American Medium. Singular disturbances. 
The Solicitous Mother. The Doors opened 
by Spirits. Seances at Mrs. Marshall's. 
A Guitar played in the Light . . . . . 95 

X. — The Age of Invention. Greater Marvels. 
The Davenport Manifestations, Scientific 
Incredulity. Achieved Impossibilities. 
High Inspirations 102 

XI. — The Davenports in London. Herr Tol- 

maque. First Seance. Medical Critics . 110 

XII. — The Davenports in Ireland 117 

X1IL— Dr. J. B. Ferguson . . 161 

XIV.— The Davenports in Germany . . . . .171 
XV. — The Davenports in Hamburg . . ". ... 184 

XVI.— The Davenports in Belgium 190 

XVII.— Concluding Remarks. . . ..... 215 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 



CHAPTER I. 



Electro-Biology. — First visit to a Mediums- 
Bobby Burns. 

At the suggestion of numerous friends, I have 
been induced to publish an account of my ex- 
perience with the Davenport Brothers ; and in 
doing so, I have thought it well to preface it with 
my own experience in spiritual manifestations 
prior to my acquaintance with these mediums, and 
to trace, in a concise manner, my career in con- 
nection with the subject from the time of my first 
initiation to the time of their arrival in England ; 
which I consider will not be without interest to 
my readers, especially those who are unacquainted 
with the facts of Spiritualism, to which my intro- 
duction was on this wise: — 

In the year 1862, Mr. J # H. Powell visited 

B 



2 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES . 

Eastbourne as a lecturer on Mesmerism. I was 
not altogether unacquainted with the subj ect, for 
some years before I had been present at a lecture 
on Electro-Biology, when the truth of that science 
was partially demonstrated in my own person. 
My limbs were made rigid ; my eyes and mouth 
became fixed at the will of the operator ; but some 
experiments that succeeded on other subjects did 
not succeed with me, and no other effects than 
those I have stated could be produced on myself. 
[Regarding the matter simply as a psychological 
curiosity. I thought but little of it afterwards, 
until the arrival of Mr. Powell in his professional 
capacity, when I witnessed his experiments in 
public, and also at my own house. He endea- 
voured to mesmerise me, but without effect. He 
tried my children, but on one of them only could 
he succeed. This was my eldest daughter. Un- 
der his influence she soon became apparently 
unconscious, and fell into a state of coma ; and in 
this state did a variety of things, her eyes being 
shut the whole time. At the operator's suggestion 
she went into the next room and played the piano 
in a style different to her own, and on becoming 
" herself again," stated that she was perfectly 
unconscious of what she had been doing, and quite 
ignorant of anything that had transpired. 

With these experiments I was much struck ; 
although at the time I saw but little importance 
in them,, I had heard of Mesmerism being em- 
ployed as a curative agent, but this, in a little book 
I had a short time before published {Health in 
Nature,) I had classed among the quackeries and 
delusions of the day. 

It was, I think, on the occasion of this visit 
that Mr. Powell first broached the subject of 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 3 

Spiritualism to me. I heard his tale with incre- 
dulity. He told me what he had seen at "Madame 
Besson's, and described how tables were moved 
and how messages were obtained by means of raps . 
He said he had even seen a table suspended in 
the air without any visible support to sustain it 
there, and that his wife had been raised in her 
chair, Unlike most persons, who, on hearing for 
the first time such marvels described, pronounce 
them impossible, I did not actually do this ; still I 
thought there must be some mistake about it. I 
remember well the feeling that came over me when 
I was alone, and began to reflect on what I 
heard. All that I had heard of apparitions, death 
tokens and such mysterious affairs— all the horri- 
ble things in Mrs. Crowe's " Night side of 
nature," which I had read some years before, and 
regarded as an excellent story book, flitted 
through my mind like a panoramic vision. After 
all,then, I said to myself, Supernaturalism may 
be true ! 

Some months elapsed, and I called one day on 
Mr. Powell in London, and he proposed a visit to 
Mrs. Marshall. I consented, and we made our 
way to King Street, Holborn, where she then 
resided. I entered the house with some little 
feeling of trepidation, and was at once introduced 
to the lady in whose presence such wonderful 
things were said to occur. My first impressions 
of Mrs. Marshall, were, I confess, not very favour- 
able, I expected to see in a person reputed to 
possess such extraordinary powers, some peculiar- 
ities which might be characteristic of these powers. 
Judge then of my surprise, at seeing an ordinary, 
stout and matronly old dame, just such an one as 
we may meet every day of our lives, without their 
b 2 



4 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

attracting any notice whatever. Mrs. Marshall, 
a niece of the old lady's, was also present, and 
struck me as possessing a much more sybil-like 
appearance, but in neither of them, either in ap- 
pearance or manner, did I observe anything to 
awe or excite suspicion. They both appeared to 
be frank, honest, and ingenuous, answering all 
my queries in a straight forward and unreserved 
manner. 

At their request I and Mr. Powell placed our 
hands on a small round three-legged table, the 
ladies doing the same, and in less than a minute 
faint but distinct raps were heard on the table. 
The raps, I may observe, were not nearly so loud 
at that time as I have heard on my subsequent 
visits to Mrs. Marshall. The table appeared 
to be endowed with vitality, and was raised in a 
curious manner. I was invited to examine the 
table which I did by turning it upside down, 
but gained nothing by my examination. It was 
evidently an ordinary table. Mrs. Marshall said 
that a gentleman had been there a few days before 
and made experiments with a magnet, but could 
discover nothing by it. Being re-seated we put 
various questions, which were answered affirma- 
tively and negatively by the raps, one rap being 
understood to mean " No " and three raps " Yes." 
Mr. Powell was more successful in obtaining com- 
munications than myself. The only thing of im- 
portance which occurred with reference to myself, 
was this : I had a few weeks before lost an 
uncle, with whom I had been on intimate terms, 
and I was one of his executors. I asked if' his 
spirit was present. Three raps in reply. 

" Will you spell your name ?" 

Three more raps I expected the name Colman 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 5 

to be spelt, instead of which, the letters J o h n 
were signalled, and then col—, but nothing more 
could be obtained. My relation's name was 
Colman ; this certainly puzzled me, and any 
thing in the shape of a solution seemed impossible. 
Mr. Powell, I felt sure, knew nothing of my rela- 
tives, and never had heard of this uncle or his death. 
At our request the table was lifted up, and then a 
succession of raps on the floor seeming to die 
away in the distance was understood to mean 
that the spirits had departed. This terminated 
the Seance, which was considered to be very un- 
satisfactory ; so much so, that on my offering a 
small sum to Mrs. Marshall in acknowledgment 
of her services, she declined to accept it, alleging 
that I had seen nothing. To compensate, however, 
for my want of good fortune, I was told of a great 
many marvels that had occurred, and shewn a 
photograph of a handkerchief which had been 
tied up in a curious knot by the spirits. 

As Mr Powell's experiences were more satis- 
factory on this occasion than my own, I extract 
his account of the Seance, also of a previous one, 
from his Facts and Phases of Spiritualism, which 
contains some of my early experiences not recorded 
here : — 

" At one sitting rappings from invisible knuckles 
would be felt and heard upon the legs of my chair. 
Trie next minute on the ceiling and in all parts of the 
apartment the same mysterious sounds would distin- 
guish themselves. 

Generally, at the close of the sittings, the departure 
of the spirits was preceded by an indistinguishable 
number of raps, 1 >ud at first, then gradually faint 
and fainter, until, like echoes on a hill, they fainted 
away in the echoing distance, 



6 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

Make yourself happy. Believe in God- -and sen- 
tences with a God bless you&t their end, were frequent- 
ly spelt out. Sometimes letters were jumbled together 
in such uncouth order as to make neither sense nor 
reason. 

As a specimen of defective orthography I present 
the following verse, which came to me from a spirit 
who persisted in presenting himself as " Robin Burns.' 7 
I had desired to know if the spirit of any poet would 
communicate with me. The table in the usual manner 
gave eager response in the affirmative. 

" Who is it ? .Will you spell your name P was my 
compound enquiry. Three knocks. The letters 
rapped out were Robin. " Robert Burns V The 
table knocked and tilted an affirmative, with evident 
satisfaction. 

Of course I felt honoured, and what person with 
poetic sensibilities would not ? 

A lucky thought took possession of my brain. I 
would get the Bard of Scotia to improvise a verse or 
two — a talent for which he was famous in his life- 
time. 

" Will Robin kindly give us a verse or two of 
poetry V I asked, with due solemnity of tone, and a 
strong disposition for an affirmative response. 

The table's three decisive knocks sent a thrill of 
pleasure through me. 

" Now, please, let's have them." 

The table commenced beating affirmative knocks 
with its foot on ;the floor, marking on the alphabet 
he following letters : — 

Gotland thy loks and thy mountains 
Thy woods and heather so wild — 

Thy waters from natures pure fountains 

1 have dt ankfrom when 1 was a child. 

Robin, 



SPIRITUAL EXPREIENCES. 7 

*• Is that all ?— One knock. 

" But you don't pretend to say that you are the 
spirit of the great Scottish Songster f 

The table thundered out three knocks, with a sud- 
denness almost electrical. 

Surely Burns could spell correctly, and present a 
better specimen of his genius than this, I thought. 

The quickness, however, with which the words were 
spelt out, and the rythmical effort of the lines ob- 
tained in the manner described tended to puzzle me 
much. 

On a future occasion, sitting at the same table with 
my friend, Mr. Cooper, whom I had prevailed upon 
to witness some spiritual phenomena, I invoked the 
pretended spirit of Burns with the view to obtain some 
more poetic effusions. The following is a correct copy 
of the second verse elicited by means of the alphabet. 
This came without defective orthography : — 

Thy balmy breath of the morning. 

As it comes upon life-giving wings, 
When the lark from her nest is up-soaring, 

What joy to the heart it brings. 

u Is that all V — One knock responded. 

" Then proceed/' 

The letters were deliberately signalled out, forming 
the words Bobby Burns. 

There was a general laugh. The table seeming to 
take up the chorus. 

(i Eobert Burns you mean V 

The table thundered No, 

The laughter only becaaie more boisterous. The 
" Bobert " was asserted to be meant by us all and not 
the "Bobby." But the table wouldn't have it. It 
rapped assent every time the word " Bobby " was 
mentioned, and persisted in refusing to allow the more 
respectful name of " Bobert" to pass without kicking 
out its stubborn negatives. 



8 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

There was a lapse of several weeks between the sitt- 
ings, which gave me the opportunity of obtaining the 
two verses above quoted. Yet in the theme and the 
word u Thy/' commencing the first line of the last 
verse, the relation of the two verses is visible. A 
slight alteration and halt in the metre give evidence 
of a want of finish ; still, there is the rudiment of 
design in the whole. 

Nothing worthy of further note passed at this sitting, 
except that Mr. Cooper obtained a communication 
from an alleged spirit, who spelt out John Col, and by 
no manner of solicitation could be prevailed upon to 
knock the additional man out, which would have 
made the name of a deceased relative complete/' 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



CHAPTEE II. 



Is it Satanic 1 — Physical Manifestations — An Engineer's 

Testimony — Spirit Writing — Seances at Home — 

Strange table Movements — Professor Faraday. 

The above events took place in November, 1862, 
and I saw nothing more of the kind 'till the 
following Summer. My experience was then 
further extended ; the particulars of which may- 
be gathered from the following letter I addressed 
to the Spiritual Magazine : — 



Sir, — With your permission, I will give your 
readers an account of the little experience I have had 
in Spiritualism. The subject had engaged my atten- 
tion from time to time, but I, as most persons are 
apt to do, regarded the whole thing as a myth. I 
had occasionally seen accounts of wondrous doings in 
news-papers ; these I looked upon as so much food 
provided for the lovers of the marvellous. I read the 
article in the Cornhill Magazine, and for the first time 
heard of a "floating medium.'' This affair though per- 
plexing to the mind, was disposed of by supposing 
that the persons present were deceived by the events 
taking place in the dark. I next had the direct testi- 
mony of a friend, in whom I could place implicit con- 
fidence, that he himself had seen some wondrous 
things, one of which, was a table standing in mid-air, 
untouched by any one present. Inexplicable as all 



10 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

this appeared to me, I was, nevertheless, reluctant to 
give in my adhesion to statements so contrary to 
general experience, and for the accomplishment of 
which, the established laws of nature must be set 
aside, or new or unknown ones brought into opera- 
tion. The subject, was however, soon after, brought 
more practically under my notice. About three 
months ago a young gentleman was staying in this 
town, and Spiritualism was incidentally mentioned to 
him ; he said that some years ago, when table turning 
was in fashion, he had sat at a table and seen it move. 
He was asked to try again. He did so, and very de- 
cided movements soon took place, but nothing more 
was done on this occasion. The next night I was 
invited to attend, and after being seated about ten 
minutes, the table seemed as if endowed with life and 
intelligence. It responded to questions by giving the 
usual affirmative or negative raps with the leg. An 
alphabet was extemporised, and immediately a re- 
markable and apropos sentence was spelt out, purport- 
ing to come from an old clergyman who had died a 
few weeks before. It will be well to mention that this 
gentleman had held the idea, so long prevalent among 
the clergy, that if there is anything in Spiritualism at all 
it is Satanic, and that it should on no account be prac- 
tised. He had given me a pamphlet to read, written 
by an Irish clergyman of the Name of Nangle, plau- 
sibly setting forth that Spiritualism was of the devil. 
** There," said he very assuredly, u that will show you 
where it comes from/' Well, this old gentleman 
having announced himself, was asked if he had any- 
thing to communicate, and without hesitation there 
was spelt out— 

When I was alive, I did not believe in Spiritualism. 

" Is it Satanic ?" 

No. 

u Then good spirits as well as evil spirits are en- 
gaged in these manifestations V 

Yes. 

The names of deceased friends were spelt out on 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES 11 

this occasion, but no farther communication was made, 
the chief interest centering in the movements of the 
table, which were remarkable to us on account of 
their novelty, we never having seen anything of the 
kind before. The next evening the same description 
of manifestations took place ; some questions of a 
theological character were answered, and the move- 
ments of the table exhibited greater power. An in- 
teresting circumstance occurred which is worth record «• 
ing. A chiid was taken from a cradle and placed 
upon the table, which at once proceeded to rock with 
a cradle-like motion. We were expecting the table to 
go along the ground, as we had seen it on the previous 
evening, when a person mounted it. On retiriug to 
rest our medium was greatly disturbed by rappings, 
which continued the greater part of the night, and he 
could not be induced to attend a Seance again. Not 
liking to abandon our experiments at so early a 
stage, we tried among ourselves, and had the satis- 
faction to find that two of our party were mediums, 
though not very powerful ones. The movements of 
the table, however, increased in power on repetition, 
and were produced more readily. 1 have frequently 
seen at my own house, a heavy man raised on the 
table, the only contact with it being our finger- 
ends lightly resting on it. We get questions prompt- 
ly answered affirmatively or negatively, but an 
appeal to the alphabet is seldom successful. The 
name of a lady has been rapped out as a medium, but 
as she cannot be persuaded to join in our experiments, 
we have not been able to test her mediumship. 

Here are fair spirits — was on one occasion spelt out ; 
this, on inquiry, we found to mean that the spirits 
present were good spirits. 

At this stage of our proceedings, a gentleman (a civil 
engineer) requested permission to see our experiments. 
He witnessed them, and was much struck with what 
he saw, and became so much interested in the matter 
that what we could show him was not enough ; to 
use his own words, he wanted to u see the hands.' ' 



12 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

I recommended him to Mrs. Marshall in London, of 
whom I had heard. He went, and sent me the follow- 
ing report : — 

" Knockings and scratchings were heard about the 
room and on the table. Questions were promptly 
answered by loud raps on the table. The name of my 
sister was correctly spelt out ; and the place where 
her remains are buried, and several questions were 
correctly answered. After this, the table rose about 
three feet in the air, and remained so for several 
seconds, in defiance of the laws of gravitation. I 
watched the movements with great earnestness and 
care, and could discover no appearance of fraud." 

On receiving this account, I made a journey to 
London to see and judge for myself. On arriving at 
M.'s I found a party of about six, among whom was a 
lady receiving a long communication from her father ; 
a page or two of which she read for our edification. 
On putting the usual question, whether there was 
any spirit present, the name of Mary Cooper wa» 
rapped out, the alphabet being pointed to by an 
American gentleman, who happened to be present. 
Not recollecting any one of that name, I enquired who 
it was, and was answered Grandmother. She stated 
that she died about thirty years ago, and was my 
guardian spirit. I have since ascertained the year of 
her death to be 1833. She died when 1 was very 
young, and my parents having died previously, the 
responsibility of my care devolved upon the old lady, 
who always manifested great interest in my welfare. 
How wonderful that she should thus spring foith to 
light again at a time when I had all but forgotten 
that such a person had ever lived ! At this stage of 
the proceedings a friend, who accompanied me, asked 
if any manifestations of a different kind to those 
we had yet seen could be produced. 

Yes. 

" Can any spirit present give us direct writing V 

Yes. 

Hereupon I placed upon the floor some note paper 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 13 

and a pencil, and on taking it tip, about two 
minutes after, the name Mary Cooper was legibly 
written, in a bold free hand. I marked the paper pre- 
vious to putting it down. I afterwards placed on the 
table a photograph, enclosed in an envelope, of a dear, 
deceased relative ; her name was instantly spelt out 
accompanied by the benedictory words Joy be with 
you. The American gentleman before alluded to, now 
began singing, which seemed to increase the move- 
ments of the table (a 4-feet loo,) and it rose fairly 
from the floor to the height of about a foot. The 
rappings now were not confined to the table, but were 
all about the floor, which shook with a tremulous 
motion, resembling, as one present observed, an earth- 
quake. 

I attended again a short time afterwards, when the 
same description of phenomena occurred. Singing 
was again introduced, and on this occasion, the table, 
a smaller one than that before used, rose in the air, 
and remained there with a vibratory motion till the 
close°of each verse, when it descended and rose again at 
the commencement of the next. The spirit of Dr. 
Esdaile was invoked, and on being told that he was 
present, the gentleman requested that he would, if 
possible, mesmerise him. The table hereupon rose 
from the ground and assumed the actions of a mesmer- 
ist in making the usual mesmeric passes ; the imitation 
was perfect. Dr. Esdaile, the celebrated mesmerist in 
India, was well known to the gentleman who made the 
request. On another occasion, a military gentleman, 
threw a handkerchief on the floor ; the alphabet was 
called for, and the words 

We have made you a pretty present, 
were rapped out. On taking up the handkerchief, it 
was found to be tied in knots. 

Such are some of the striking incidents I saw at 
Mrs. M.'s ; and coupled with what I have witnessed 
in my own house, where anything like deception or 
imposition is out of the question, they appear to me 
so conclusive, of the truth of the spiritual theory, and 



14 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

indeed, so impossible on any other theory than 
that of spiritual agency, that I unhesitatingly 
give my testimony to its truth, and I believe it des- 
tined, under Providence, as the great antidote of 
materialism, to work marvellous results in the future 
of humanity. After what I have seen, I can no more 
doubt the existence of spirits and of these spiritual 
phenomena, than I can the sunshine that warms and 
irradiates the earth ; and I feel assured that all who 
will take the trouble to investigate the matter pro- 
perly, will very soon be of the same conviction. — I 
remain, <^c, K. Cooper. 

2, Terrace, Eastbourne, Nov, 9, 1863. 

For several weeks we continued to told Seances 
in my house almost every night, the medium 
being Mrs. Hicks, and as I never objected to 
visitors being present, a great number of persons 
witnessed our experiments, most of whom, went 
away with the impression that there was " some- 
thing in it. J7 But a great diversity of opinion 
prevailed with respect to the cause. Some were 
in favour of electricity ; some attributed it to an 
undeveloped force in nature ; some only gave vent 
to such expressions as "very extraordinary !" 
" very curious certainly !" &c, while one gentle- 
man, not overgifted with brains, pronounced it 
"very clever !" and said he thought there must 
be quicksilver in the table. He, however, on his re- 
turn home, made some experiments on his own table 
with his own family and, to his surprise, found his 
mahogany to move about in the same manner he 
had seen mine, which was of course, a practical 
refutation of his quicksilver theory. The most 
remarkable phenomena produced through Mrs. 
Hick's mediumship were powerful table move- 
ments. Not only would the table be moved, but 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 15 

a heavy man seated on it would be lifted up. The 
table generally used was a large loo table weigh- 
ing about eighty pounds, and this was moved in 
two or three instances without the contact of any 
person. The first time we witnessed this pheno- 
menon, we were sitting round a smaller table than 
that generally used, when, noticing that the table 
was endowed with great force, I suggested that 
we should draw away from it, which was done, 
one of the party stooping to see by the pattern of 
the carpet, whether it moved in the slightest 
degree. I said 4 ' will the spirits bring the table 
to me ?" upon which it came straight up to me. 
I then drew back as far as I could get, the others 
retaining their places ; I then asked for the table 
to be brought to me again, and immediately it 
came right up to me. This experiment was re- 
peated three or four times, and on a gentleman 
coming into the room we told him what had 
occurred, and, standing with his elbow resting on 
the mantelpiece, he witnessed a repetition of the 
experiment. In this case the floor was carpeted, 
the table without castors, and the gas fully burn- 
ing, and only five persons present, all of whom 
were perfectly satisfied that the table was moved 
by no known physical agency. Sometimes a 
larger table was used with the same results, and 
the tables give evidence of the rough treatment 
they have experienced in dislocated legs, loose 
castors, &c. 

On one occasion an incident of an amusing char- 
acter took place. Two sceptical gentlemen were 
present and were seated at the table opposite each 
other. The table began tilting in the direction 
of the side at which they were sitting. They were 
so absorbed in the movements that it did not oc 



)6 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES . 

cur to them, that, if the table was moved by any 
visible agency, it must be done by themselves. 
Mr. Hicks, who was present, called their attention 
to the fact by making the remark " Look how 
you are moving the table ?" "It is not I" says one 
" I do not move it." says the other. " It must be 
one of you," rejoined Mr. Hicks. " I tell you it is 
not me" they both said with some warmth. It 
" must be, for there is no one else to do it" added 
Mr. Hicks, in a serious and emphatic tone, on which 
they both became very indignant, and were not duel- 
ling almost numbered with the things of the past, 
I doubt not but a challenge would have been 
considered necessary to satisfy their wounded 
honour. To moderate their anger, Mr. Hicks 
finished the affair by coolly saying "That is pro- 
bably what you would have said of me if I had 
been seated where you were." 

I once made an experiment with a table which 
I think worth recording. I placed a half cwt. 
weight on the centre of the table. I then placed 
my hands on the table and tried to pull it down, 
this I found I could do by dint of considerable 
..effort. I then placed the weight further from me, 
and I then found it impossible to move ; but the 
table at my request began tipping towards me 
without the slightest effort on my part. Consider- 
ing that this experiment upset the involuntary 
muscular theory of Professor Faraday I wrote to 
him on the subject, giving him a detailed account 
of my table experiments, making particular refer- 
ence to the last with the weighted table, and 
concluded my letter, in which I said nothing about 
spirits, by asserting my belief of the entire ab- 
sence of trickery as we were a party of 
investigators anxious to arrive at the truth. To 



SPIBITUAL EXPERIENCES. 17 

my letter I received the following courteous reply, 
which forms a good companion-letter to the one he 
sent to the Davenports, which will be found in 
another part of this book. 

The Green, Hamplon Court. 

25, September, 1863. 

" Sir,— I hasten to acknowledge your letter, for I 
freely admit my belief that you are perfectly sincere 
and truthful in your account of experiments. 
Nevertheless I refer you to my former letter for my 
answer now. 

Your observation that you have the greatest con- 
fidence in your colleagues makes me smile when I call 
to mind certain investigations that have come to my 
knowledge in former cases. 

I do not doubt your competency to check the facts 
if you are willing to work with an unbiassed mind ; 
but I decline to enter upon the matter. 

Very truly yours, 

M. Faraday. 
R. Cooper, Esq. 



18 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



CHAPTEE III 



The lock of hair.— -A new medium — Animated Music 
stool — Writing — Autograph facsimiles — Unknown 
tongues — Familiarity with the Supernatural — Mes- 
sages. 

At this stage of our proceedings my two 
daughters returned from school for their holidays. 
They knew nothing of Spiritualism. We held a 
Seance at night at which they were present. The 
usual manifestations took place and naturally ex- 
cited their surprise. Nothing, however, very 
particular took place at the Seance, but on their 
going to bed, a very extraordinary circumstance 
occurred. A box brought with them from school 
had been emptied of clothes and was used for 
keeping their hats in. On opening this box a coil 
of their mother's hair, partially enclosed in an en- 
velope, was observed to be lying on the hats. An 
exclamation of pleasurable surprise attended the 
discovery of the lost "hair. But how came it 
there, that way the mystery. The circumstances 
attending its loss were as follows. When home 
for their holidays the previous midsummer, a little 
dog had taken advantage of the hair being left 
about and used it as a thing to sport with. The 
hair was much ruffled by the treatment. It was, 
however, put to rights in the best way possible 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES 19 

and placed in a workbasket. Soon after it was 
suddenly missed, and notwithstanding a search 
being made in all likely and unlikely places, no 
trace of the lost treasure could be found, and the 
affair was, I may say, forgotten until the incident 
above related occurred. I made inquiries of 
every one of the household, which consisted of my 
family and two servants. They all emphatically 
denied any knowledge of the hair, and I have no 
reason to doubt them. The servants, we had at 
the time, had only been with us a few weeks and 
knew nothing of the lost hair. The affair was an 
entire mystery. So I said " We will ask the 
spirits about it ; perhaps they can tell us some- 
thing. " I took the opportunity when next 
communicating with them to ask if they could tell 
us anything about the hair. 

I had it. Was the reply. 

"What did you take it for? My daughter 
asked. 

Because you were careless. 

"When did you take it?" Was the next 
query." 

June. 

" Did you hide it m the house or take it right 
away?" I asked. 

/ tooh it away. Was the answer. 
At the time I regarded this manifestation as quite 
unique, but I have since heard of many similar 
and equally extraordinary occurrences. 

A few nights after, (it was New year's Eve) we 
held another Seance, and I then noticed that the 
table moved when no one touched it but my eldes 
daughter. This led me to inquire if she were a 
medium ; to which I received an affirmative re- 
ply. The spirit of my wife purported to be the 



20 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

communicating spirit, and gave us each a short 
and characteristic communication. All had re- 
ceived a message but my youngest little boy, when 
a pause in the proceedings suddenly occurred. 

" Won't you say something to me"? he 
meekly but earnestly said. At first there was no 
response, but on the request being repeated, the 
words : — 

Come and be with me, were rapped out. 

I hid them from the child as well as I could, at 
least the latter part of the sentence, lest it might 
excite alarm and apprehension in his youthful 
mind, and Mrs. Hicks was so overcome at the oc- 
currence as to shed tears, and left the table, saying 
she would have no more to do with it. A gloom 
fell upon our little party and it broke up in silence, 
impressed with the feeling that an import was 
attached to the message, which fortunately has 
not up to this time been realized. 

The day following was the 1st, of January 1864. 
"We were seated round the fire after dinner when 
the events of the previous evening came to my re- 
collection. The message of apparently ominous 
import had produced an uncomfortable feeling in 
my mind, but I was too much interested in the 
subject to give it up, as Mrs. Hicks seemed dis- 
posed to do, and remembering the circumstance of 
the table moving under my daughter's reputed 
mediumship, it occurred to me to test it alone. So, 
as a first experiment, I desired her to place her 
hands on a small music stand (known as a Can- 
terbury) and soon had the satisfaction of seeing it 
exhibit the same kind of motion we had so often 
seen in the table. It went round the room — there 
was no holding it. It lifted and struck the floor 
with its legs, and the next day vibrated with such 



SPIEITUAL EXPREIENCES. 21 

rapidity that its shape was indefinable. I pro- 
cured an alphabet and pointed to the letters, at 
which it rapped, but when the letters were placed 
side by side they formed only an unmeaning jum- 
ble. A succession of trials produced no better 
results. I then said " perhaps you are a writing 
medium," and placed a pencil in my daughter's 
hand. After holding it about a minute she ex- 
claimed, " It's going, I can't help it." I looked 
at the paper but there was nothing but a string 
of m's and n's. " Try again," I said. This time 
the hand moved slower and the words Sister 
love were legibly written in a style entirely dif- 
ferent to her own. Her mother's name was next 
written, followed by the sentence / love you, and 
want you to love God. A peculiarity in the 
writing was that all the tail letters, whether above 
or below the line, were about three times their 
proper length. John Colman, to whom refer- 
ence has already been made, next wrote his name, 
adding, / see you, so I do, and 1" often think of 
you all. But the most striking incident that 
occurred was this. The name " Mary Cooper," 
was written in a peculiar old-fashioned style ; this 
was the name of my grandmother already alluded 
to in the letter to the Spiritual Magazine. I re- 
membered she had given me a book some thirty 
years before in which she had written her name. 
I searched the next day and found it, and in com- 
paring her original autograph with the one now 
produced they were seen to be almost identical. 
The formation of the letters was nearly exact, the 
principal difference being in respect to size ; the 
involuntary writing was the largest of the two. 
This signature was afterwards produced several 
times. My daughter, I am quite sure, had never 



22 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 

seen the original autograph, and had never r I 
believe, heard of this grandmother. Here, then, 
was a wonderful fact, impossible to be accounted 
for on any known principle of physics or meta- 
physics. Scores of persons have seen the two 
writings and all agree in their wonderful similar- 
ity.* 

The writing faculty was cultivated and became 
more developed. The letters gradually assumed 
their natural proportions and other fac-similes 
of the departed were produced, also specimens of 
chirography entirely strange to us. And to set 
the matter beyond all doubt — that the writing 
was not the product of the medium's own brain, 
she wrote in languages she knew nothing of; these 
were sometimes written with great rapidity. I 
believe I could enumerate a dozen different lan- 
guages she has written ; the very names of some 
of which were unknown to us at the time, and it 
was only by submitting them to competent per- 
sons that we obtained a clue to what they were, 
and one or two specimens we could not get deci- 
phered at all. The following are the languages 
we have had writing in. French, Dutch, Italian, 
German, Eussian, Latin, Assyrian, Chinese, and 
Spirit language, so-called by the spirits them- 
selves, and a specimen said by the spirits to be 
Egyptian and Persian. 

In conseqence of Mrs. Hicks declining to take 
part in our Seances we discontinued holding them 
in what may be called a systematic manner, and 
instead, used to get communications from our 



* Fac-similes are published in Powell's Facts and Phases 
of Spiritualism. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 2c 

spirit friends at all hours of the day. They ap- 
peared to be always present, and would make 
their presence known sometimes when we were 
not thinking about such matters. Thus at din- 
ner they would move the table or cause our chairs 
to vibrate. On one occasion my daughter went 
into the drawing-room to practise the piano, and 
while so doing the stool on which she sat began 
rocking about. Though alone, she was not at all 
alarmed but simply said " let me finish my prac- 
tising and then you may rock me about as much 
as you like." 

Why even our children would not be alarmed 
at supernatural occurrences if they understood 
them and were familiarised with them. It is the 
mystery in which the subject is involved and the 
semi-admission of its reality that does the mis- 
chief, producing the fear and apprehension that 
exists in the minds of the multitude. 

In the following remarkable passage, Judge 
Edmonds testifies to the same effect on the youth- 
ful members of his family. 



* Only a few evenings ago, I was sitting alone in my 
library, profoundly thinking upon a great moral ques- 
tion on which I had some perplexing doubt. I looked 
up, and my only brother, who died about a year ago, 
stood by my side, within three feet of me. He told 
me he came as the messenger of a higher intelligence 
to solve that doubt ; and he did so, with an expression 
of countenance, a manner, and in language, entirely 
characteristic. We had a brief conversation on the 
subject, and as soon as he perceived that I understood 
him, he vanished. I saw him as plain as I ever saw 
him in life, and if I could ever identify him I could 



24 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

then. Now if this was not the spirit of the departed, 
what was it ? and whence came the clear wisdom of 
his teaching, far as it was beyond my capacity to 
originate ? Fifty years ago this would have been a 
ghost story, and the silly education of my childhood 
would have caused me to be frightened ; and now it 
has been of such frequent occurrence with so many 
people, and under so many various circumstances, and 
it has come to be so well understood, that it excites no 
alarm, no agitation, even. Why, even our children 
laugh and play with the spirits ! Men believe in the 
Bible ! Then they believe that in the olden time 
mortal men saw the spirits of the departed. "Who 
was it that Peter, and James, and John, saw with 
Jesus on the mountain 1 ' And who was it that John 
saw in the Eevelafcions, but one,, of his brethren, the 
prophets ? And wherein, pray, has the nature of man 
so changed, that what was possible to him eighteen 
hundred years ago, is not possible to him now." 



I confess I used to be somewhat timid in these 
matters, but now having become familiarised with 
them, they occasion me no alarm. I think but 
little more of conversing with spirits than with 
mortals. We have only to realise the idea that 
spirits are disembodied human beings, and all 
cause for fear vanishes. 

To return to my subject, sometimes my daugh- 
ter when seated in a chair would be thrown back, 
and in this position would resist considerable force 
to push it forward. Sometimes at night the 
spirits would make a noise as if stones were 
thrown through the window and then fell on the 
floor. This was heard by the governess as well as 
by my daughter, both occupying the same room. 
On two occasions I was awoke just as I was fall- 
ing off to sleep, by loud knockings ; the first 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 2& 

night on the door, the next night on the window. 
On hearing the sounds I sat up in bed, somewhat 
alarmed, but could hear nothing more. The next 
day when communicating with the spirits I referred 
to the knocking of the previous night, telling 
them I did not approve of being disturbed in that 
way, when they said, We were going to speak to 
you, bat you were afraid. I sometimes ob- 
tained communications by getting my daughter 
to place her hand on a small table. If she 
happened to be reading at the time she did not 
leave off; I would then take the alphabet to 
another part of the room and point to the let- 
ters, and in this way long sentences were obtained, 
the letters being indicated by three movements of 
the table. I give a few specimens obtained in 
this way. 

Mary, I hope you try to love God, and that you 
make a happy home for your dear papa, and brothers 
and sister. 

Heaven is a beautiful place, ice sing lovely songs 
and play on golden harps. 

These two sentences were also given by the 
tilting of the table and addressed to my children. 

Kate is here, and she loves you very much, 

When you go to bed pray to God. 

The following is the longest communication I 
ever obtained by this mode and was given with 
great rapidity and without the slightest error : — 

Mary, I hope you love God,, and try to make your 
Papa happy. Love Ada, Ernest, Archy and Ion. 
Will you write to aunt Marion and tell her that 

Spiritualism is true ? Go and tell aunt H y 

that I have communicated to you, and tell her that I 
wish her to come and see me and be convinced. Go and 
tell her that I will come to the table and say what I 



26 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. ' 

have to communicate, and we will tell her many things 
about Spiritualism, Go and see her directly, for she 
must be told as soon as possible, or she will not believe 
what you say. 

In the above a desire is expressed by the spirit 
to communicate with her relatives. This is what 
we may suppose a spirit would naturally wish to 
do when it had found a way, of communicating. 
For about a week these importunate requests con- 
tinued to be made and then ceased altogether, 
for though couched in most earnest terms they 
were unavailing in inducing the parties addressed 
to "come and see and be convinced," so great 
was the prejudice against the subject ; they did 
not deem it right, they averred, to disturb their 
sweet sister's repose : speaking as though the 
spirits of the departed were sleeping in the grave 
along with mouldering dust. To such a poor, 
pitiable condition has modern orthodoxy reduced 
the faith of its devotees ! 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 27 



CHAPTEE IV. 



Lectures — A Clergyman's Letter — Ghost stories — 
Molly Downing — A Visit from Prince Albert. 

Thus matters went on for about a fortnight 
when I happened to meet a medical gentleman 
who had been present at our Seances and witnessed 
the manifestations through Mrs. Hick's medium- 
ship, and expressed himselt'much astonished at them. 
I recounted what had since taken place and he 
then suggested that a lecture should be given on 
the subject. " Well," I replied, " Why don't 
you give one? " No," said he, "you are the 
proper person to do that." "Well, I will con- 
sider the matter," I added. Upon the strength of 
this and receiving messages from the spirit- world, 
urging me to ' * publish and plead the cause of 
Spiritualism," I determined to give the public an 
account of my experiences, and with that object 
announced two lectures at the Assembly JRooms. 

It is not to be surprised at in a little town like 
Eastbourne, where everything that happens is 
known from one end to the other, that our doings 
should have been fully canvassed, and that excite- 
ment should run high. Of course, there was, as 
usual, a great diversity of opinion on the subject ; 



28 SPIRITUAL EXPEBIENCES. 

the doctors and the quasi scientific, pronouncing 
it all humbug and delusion, "while the religious 
folk, with the clergy at the?r head asserted, like 
the priests asserted of the Jackdaw of Eheims, 
that " the devil was in it." 

One learned disciple of Hippocrates, living in a 
neighbouring town, gravely questioned me with 
regard to my regimen and general habits ; did I 
drink much ? did I sleep well, and was I troubled 
with dreams ? Very few in the parish but what 
were tolerably conversant with our doings, since 
we made no secret of them, and never shut the 
door against any inquirer. 

One of the leading families of the town took up 
the matter very warmly, said it was nothing but 
" witchcraft revived, 7 ' and threatened Mr. Hicks 
to do him all the injury they could in his photo- 
graphic business if he persisted in the practice of 
Spiritualism. This unseemly conduct called forth 
the following sharp ai id w T ell-merited rebuke from 
a clergyman, at that time connected with the 
University of Cambridge. 



Dear Sir, — I am much obliged to you for your 
two letters and the interesting information they con- 
tained. Have you ascertained, by reference to any 
Persian scholar, whether the writing said to be Persian, 
reaUy is so. 

I smcerely hope that your paper is increasing ts 
circulation. I sent a copy of one number (of which 

you sent me two or three) to my friend, Professor , 

with whom I had a long conversation on the subject. He 
and his wife seemed much, interested in it ; they had 
been reading De Morgan's book " Prom Matter to 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 29 

Spirit/' and he was quite ready to examine into the 
question fairly and candidly. What a contrast to the 
conduct of the ;i Evangelical party'' at Eastbourne, 
whose persecution of poor Mrs. H^cks is most disgrace- 
ful. I have half a mind to write something on the 
folly of their proceedings, for publication either in 
your paper or as a separate tract ; but I fear it would 
be only a watte of time and money. It is of no use 
to argue with such imbecile bigots, whose ignorance of 
the whole thing is ^on a par with their unchristian 
spirit in thus ven ~ig their petty |malice on persons 
whose moial character is as good and (perhaps bet- 
ter) than their own. But Spivituaiiszn is going through 
exactly the same ordeal as Christianity at the first. 
The blind and conceited Pharisees of the present day 
will not examine the claims of the new faith, and will 
persecute all who dare to do so. The time will come 
when the clergv will discover what a set of fools they 
have been — just as Dr. Elliotson is doing, in denying 
or rejecting the evidence of so many thousands, or d- 
scribing to Satan what they cannot deny to be re-'. 
" Blind leaders of the blind/' now as of old. The Bee- 
tor of this parish saw a number of your paper on my 
table, when he paid us his first visit. He knew noth- 
ing of the subject, aud evidently did not care to know 
anything ; very likely he set me down as a " dupe, 1 ' 
but he is too much of a gentleman to begin raving 
against the poor " dupes/' as your Eastbourne "Evan- 
gelicals" are doing. 

. I shall always be glad to hear how you are going 
on. 

Yours truly, ■ 



Two or three other circumstances also occurred 
at the time that tended materially to increase the 
interest in the matter. An old woman by the 
name of Downing was reported by several trust- 



SO SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

worthy witnesses to have appeared in bodily form 
- — " in the habit as she lived " — after her death, 
which had taken place some six weeks before ; 
and mysterious rappings were nightly heard about 
her dwelling. These things are strenuosly main* 
tained by the parties who witnessed them to the 
present day. An old pensioner had also appeared 
to his wife who was at another part of the town at 
the time, and on her return home she found her 
husband lying dead on the floor in his shirt, 
having broken a blood vessel. Mrs. Griffin, in 
whose house the apparition appeared, told 
me that the woman spoke to her at the time, 
about what she had seen, and impressed with the 
idea that all was not well, she returned home 
sooner* than she otherwise would have done. A 
strange revelation made through mediumship, 
clearing up the mystery attached to an old 
malthouse, reputed lor many years to be haunted, 
also transpired at this time. In this case the 
spirit reiterated his unhappy condition, and at 
length disclosed the cause of his unhappiness. 
This was an injury done to another in his life* 
time. A reconciliation was ultimately effected and 
the hauntings gradually ceased. The most curious 
part of the affair is this ; the spirit gave his name 
and the number of years he had been in the spirit- 
world, (seventy and a half years,) which was found 
to agree with the date of the death of a former 
owner of the premises as recorded on his tomb- 
stone in the parish churchyard. None of the par- 
ties concerned knew anything of the history of the 
building so many years ago.* 



* Full particulars of these cases are given in Powell's Facts 
and Phases of Spiritualism. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 31 

Fifty other ghost stories and such like affairs 
obtained currency, in fact everybody had a tale to 
tell of some marvellous event either occurring to 
himself or somebody he knew. All these cir- 
cumstances combined caused excitement to run 
high, and therefore it is not altogether a matter of 
surprise that the hall on the night of my lecture 
should have been filled with a dense crowd. A 
great number of those present were neighbours of 
the old woman whose apparition had been seen, 
and to this circumstance I was somewhat indebted 
for the overflowing audience I was honored with. 

I had proceeded with my lecture for about half- 
an-hour without interruption ; but now signs of 
impatience began to be manifested and a cry for 
Molly Downing was set up. For some time I paid 
no attention to these demonstrations, but at length 
I found it necessary to appeal to the audience to 
give me a hearing. I was then for the first time 
made to understand that the malcontents had come 
to the lecture under the impression that they were 
going to see the redoubtable Molly Downing 
" raised " upon the platform, after the style, I 
presume, of Pepper's Ghost. I explained to the 
audience that I had simply announced a lecture 
and had no intention of illustrating it with mani« 
festations ; on their persisting in expressing their 
dissatisfaction, saying they " wanted .to see some- 
thing, " I pacified them by promising to give some 
manifestations at the next lecture. I was then 
allowed to proceed. The receipts of the lecture I 
had undertaken to give to the Workmen's Hall, a 
young institution in need of funds, but a letter 
appearing in a local journal, virtually declining 
the money, I decided on appropriating it to another 



32 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

and perhaps better purpose. The committee of 
the institution in question, I afterwards learned, 
had authorised the letter to be written in deference 
to the views of the founder (described in to-day's 
Gazette, as one of Nature' s noblemen) , who regarded 
the proceeds of my lecture in the light of "Devil's 
money !" 

A day or two after this I was in communication 
with the spirit-world, and said to my principal 
communicant. "Do you see the great men who 
have lived on the earth?" 

Yes. 

" Have you seen Shakespeare," 

No. 

" Have you seen Mendelsshon ?', 

No. 

" Have you seen Prince Albert ?" 

Yes, frequently. 

" Could you bring him here ?" 

I will try. 

The next day I enquired as to the probability of 
a visit from Prince Albert, and was informed he 
had consented to come and would be present at 
half-past eleven the following morning. We ac- 
cordingly assembled at the appointed time, and 
were at once in communication with our spirit- 
iriends, who said, 

Prince Albert is coming in five minutes, bo ie 
ready for him. 

I said, we will sing his Christmas hymn. I may 
observe that we were in the habit of having music 
at our Seances, which we found greatly to facilitate 
the manifestations. So, on the Prince being an- 
nounced, we commenced the hymn alluded to, and 
he at once began to beat time with a stick which 
was resting against a wall beside the harmonium. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 33 

The hymn finished, the Prince wrote these words. 

It is very hind of you all to learn it to sing to me; 
you did it very nicely indeed. Albert of 8 axe- Coburgh 
and Gotha died at Windsor Castle in 1861. 

At the conclusion of this writing, the large din- 
ing-room table, at which my daughter, the (me- 
dium) was sitting, was raised at one end. This 
was a phenomenon I had never before witnessed 
througn my daughter's mediumship. In this case 
the table was covered with a cloth and not a hand 
had touched it. I have since seen this table, 
which weighs about a hundred- weight, raised in 
the air by spirit power. I next proposed some 
more singing, and observed that I had composed 
a Christmas hymn. The Prince asked us to sing 
it but wished his own to be sung again first. This 
request was complied with, and on the completion 
of my hymn, the words It is worthy were 
written. We then sang a piece from Mozart, 
which happened to be on the instrument, to which 
the Prince beat the time with the ability of a 
Costa. I then asked "Are you often with the 
Queen ?" 

Yes, very often. 

" Are you pleased at the birth of a Prince ?" 
at which great delight was manifested. 

After a few remarks concerning Spiritualism, 
in which the Prince expressed himself greatly in- 
terested, and which he said, would be pretty gen- 
erally believed in five years, the interview termina- 
ted. I need not say that it afforded us all great 
gratification. At a Seance the following day, allu- 
sion was made to these proceedings, and the words 
" We were very pleased he came to see you," 
were rapped out. 

D 



34 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



CHAPTEE V. 



Manifestations in public — The facts are published — 
Diversity of opinions prevail— N angle of Skreen — 
Vigilans — Golden harps in Heaven — The Hail- 
sham Ghost. 

My second lecture came off a fortnight after the 
first, when there being no Molly Downing to draw a 
promiscuous crowd, the noisy element was absent. 
I was consequently listened to much more atten- 
tively than before, and a good deal of interest 
appeared to be manifested in the subject* At the 
close of the lecture, according to my promise, I 
made some experiments with a table which moved 
and banged about in a very violent manner. I 
left the platform and took my seat among the au- 
dience. My position was in the second or third 
row ; at any rate I was at least 16 feet from the 
table. Holding an alphabet in my hand I pointed 
to the letters, which was witnessed by the gentle- 
men sitting on either side of me ; and one of them 
wrote the letters down as they were indicated by 
the knocking of the table. Several persons hav- 
ing mounted the platform the table was nearly 
obscured from view, so that I had to go entirely 
by the sound. After knocking at about forty 



SPIRITUAL EXPREIEKCES. 35 

letters tlie table became quiet. " Is that all? " 
I asked. Three knocks in reply. I then said to 
the gentleman who had taken down the letters 
"Will you have the kindness to read the sen- 
tence. " I had been too much engaged in point- 
ing to the alphabet to take cognizance of the 
words as they were formed, and at the conclusion 
had no idea what the sentence was. It was this : — 
You must all believe in Spiritualism for the truth 
will come out ; and truly a very appropriate one 
for the occasion. 

Here then was another wonderful fact. It is 
obvious that there must have been some connec- 
tion between the table and the alphabet — some 
invisible telegraph, otherwise an intelligent sen- 
tence could not have been obtained in the way it- 
was. The power that moved the table must at 
the same time have seen the alphabet I held 
in my hand. I leave my readers to judge whether 
any but the spiritual theory will account for a fact 
of this kind. It is of no use saying it is elec- 
tricity or some such blind force. Electricity may 
be the medium of conveying intelligence, as in 
telegraphy, but it is not, and cannot be, the source of 
intelligence. Notices of my lectures appearing, 
not only in the local but in the county papers, 
gave additional notoriety to the subject, and a 
knowledge of it was no longer confined to East- 
bourne but spread throughout the county. The 
Brighton papers also took up the theme, and it 
was pretty generally canvassed by the inhabitants 
of the "Little London by the Sea." In addition 
to the articles my lectures had called forth, letters 
were published against Spiritualism which served 
also to give it greater publicity. In these letters 
all classes of opponents appeared to be represented. 
d 2 



36 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

There was tlie scientific materialist with his chal- 
lenge, and the orthodox religionist with his devil- 
theory. One writer descanted very learnedly on 
the operation of unknown natural forces, and 
Whilst admitting the reality of the phenomena, attri- 
buted the intelligence displayed in them to the 
minds of the operators. Another, evidently some 
country rector who probably was in the habit of 
regarding his parish as the whole world, or at least 
the most important part of it, wrote in a brief and 
authoritative manner saying, " it was high time 
it was put a stop to— it had gone quite far enough !" 
To show the absurd nature of the opposition that was 
manifested, I give the particulars of the challenge 
before]alludedto. They are as follow. That the chal- 
lenger and myself should each deposit fifty 
pounds — that a table should be placed in an open 
field — that I was not to go near till the time of 
trial, and then not nearer than 15 feet. If under, 
these conditions the table rose 30 feet in the air, 
I was to be entitled to the £50, and if it did not 
the challenger w r as to have the money. The gen- 
tleman who made this preposterous challenge is 
now, I believe, a convert to Spiritualism. 

The letter of the orthodox clergyman signing 
himself ",Vigilans" who sought to throw the onus 
on Beelzebub, was mainly an extract from the book 
of the Rev. E. Nangle, an Irish priest, immor- 
talized by Mr. Howitt in some lines commencing, 

" Nangle of Skreen, what does he mean 1 

That the Devil's converted, or turned very green. 

The Pamphlet he gives us is not vastly new, 

It only takes up the old cry of the Jew, 

Who said, when he saw our Lord healing the sick ; 

'Oh ! that is the work of that crafty Old Nick."' 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 37 

In tkis letter (a column and a half of small type) 
it was related how a clergyman got into commu- 
nication with a spirit, evidently not a first-class 
one, who gave in reply to his questions just what 
was looked for, and ended the conference by 
assuring him he was the Devil himself, which the 
said clergyman of course believed. It was a 
foregone conclusion with him, and on this peg 
hung the whole argument. 

A curious circumstance occured about this time in 
reference to the writer of this letter, at least I have 
always identified " Vigilans" with one of our local 
clergy. This gentleman conceived it to be his 
duty to call on me to warn me against Spiritualism. 
I told him I could find nothing objectionable in it ; 
that all the communications I received were of an 
excellent and satisfactory character, particularly 
those addressed to my children, which were per- 
vaded by a highly religious spirit and produced 
in them a good and salutary effect. I repeated 
some of them to him, of which the following are 
specimens. 

My dear niece, you must folloio the holy precepts, 
and counsels of Jesus, darling child. I am your 
guardian angel. Look towards Heaven as your safe- 
guard. Never forget. Do ivhat I tell you. 

Kate is here and she loves you very much. When 
you go to led pray to God. 

Mary, I hope you try to love God and that you 
male a happy home for your dear papa and brothers 
and sister. 

Heaven is a very beautiful place ; we sing lovely 
songs and play on golden harps. 

Such are some of the spirit-messages I sub- 
mitted to this worthy clergyman, who was forced 
to admit their unexceptional character. He left 



38 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

me and went straight to Mr. Hicks to warn him also 
against Spiritualism. Mr. Hicks like myself re- 
ferred to the messages we received in proof that 
there was nothing bad in it. " Yes " said the 
clergyman, "Mr. Cooper has shewn me some of 
them ; there was one about playing golden harps 
in heaven ; now I would as soon believe there are 
tables and chairs in heaven as golden harps. * 
After some conversation, which was no more avail- 
ing in altering the opinion of Mr. Hicks than my 
own, " Vigilans "left. The next day was Sunday 
and after breakfast our spirit friends made their 
presence known as they were in the habit of doing 
at this time, and I asked them to make a commu- 
nication. 

Not now, we will come again at half-past twelve, — 
was the answer by raps. We met at the ap- 
pointed time and almost immediately there was 
written in the middle of a sheet of note paper 

There are golden harps in heaven, 
and in the left-hand corner 

For Mr. . 

The hand-writing was that of my wife, and, 
taking one of her original letters from a desk, I 
sent it and the message to the clergyman to whom 
it was addressed. 

Encouraged by the success of my lectures in 
Eastbourne, I determined on repeating them in 
the neighbouring towns. The first I visited was 
Hailsham, about eight miles distant, where my 
lecture was well attended and listened to with in- 
terest. The M. D. of the town, however^ who was 
present, manifested his displeasure by abruptly 
quitting the room when I was about half-way 
through. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 39 

I was, at the time, reading a case of haunting 
from Kobert Dale Owen's book. These he pro- 
nounced ' Joe Millerisms,' and said it was an insult 
to common sense to talk about such things in the 
present day. At the close of the lecture a demand 
was made to " see something" and I then found 
that the people here, as at Eastbourne, had come 
under the impression that they would witness some 
of the extraordinary things they had heard of. 
With some little dissatisfaction expressed on this 
head the proceedings terminated. The following 
week I paid another visit to Hailsham which was 
attended with very unexpected results. Owing to 
the absence of manifestations my lecture was not 
sufficiently attractive to draw an audience on the 
second occasion. The time for commencement 
had considerably passed, and not more than a 
score of persons were present. I was conversing 
with some of them when the " Hailsham Ghost " 
put in an appearance, causing consternation on all 
hands ; even the sceptics turned white and looked 
dismayed. The particulars of this affair will be 
gathered from the following letters which appeared 
in the county paper, Mr. "Hard of Belief " being 
none other than the M.D. who thought it beneath 
his dignity to sit my lecture out. It may be well, 
however, to explain before giving the letters, that 
while we were talking at one end of the room, 
suddenly, underneath the platform at the other 
end, a succession of heavy reports were heard, 
causing the table to tremble and the dust to rise. 
An examination was made under the platform 
by those who had sufficient courage to advance in 
the direction of the mysterious sounds, but noth- 
ing could be found to account for them,- and the 
mystery was increased when it was found there 



40 SPIEITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

was no cellar under the room. After sundry vain 
attempts at an explanation the company dispersed, 
and the next day being market day (the market 
was held in this very room), the affair became 
the chief theme of conversation and almost super- 
seded all other matters. The bucolic mind went 
away wonder-struck — the people carried the news 
to their respective homes, and doubtless made a 
greater impression in favour ol Spiritualism than 
my lecture would have produced even if delivered 
to a well-filled hall. Although the affair was 
never properly cleared up, I have no doubt it was 
the trick of some wag, who intended the noises to 
take place under my feet while I was lecturing, 
but was defeated in this by the lecture not begin- 
ning at the appointed time. This is the corres- 
pondence that ensued : — 



The Hailsham Ghost. 

Sir, — In common with all the world, we in this 
quiet little town of Hailsham, had heard of the 
wonderful doings by Mr. Cooper, of Eastbourne — as 
who has not 1 of his holding daily, nay hourly com- 
munication with the shades of the departed — of the 
good advice given by these spirits to their former 
companions in this " vale of tears/' how they were to 
be good boys and girls— get their lessons properly, &c. 
We had been) informed, too, that the Eastbourners 
walked about the streets in fear and trembling, lest 
some of those returned spirits would disclose secrets 
and peccadilloes, which were never meant to %i come to 
light," and we heard how many dreaded to be out 
after dark, for fear of meeting u Molly Downing," 
deceased some months since, whom many averred to 
have seen walking the Parade "just as she used to 
do." ^ Well, Mr. Editor, we had heard all these won- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 41 

derful things, and many of us held our breath in 
amazement, and we whispered to each otner " can such 
things be, and not overcome us with special wonder,'' 
but just imagine our excitement when we read from 
bills in our shop windows that Mr. Cooper intended 
giving a lecture in our Corn Exchange, on " Spiritual 
manifestations." Now, sir, I beg to assure you that 
though we are generally a quiet and sober people, afew 
ot us must plead guilty to occasionally having 
" some spiritual manifestations/' particularly after 
passing a pleasant evening with our friends. Still 
curiosity compelled us to witness some of Cooper's 
li Manifestations/' as we fancied they might be different 
to those of our experience. Consequently a goodly 
company assembled at the hour appointed for the 
lecture, and gave an attentive hearing to all he had to 
say, in the shape of stories of dreams, apparitions, &c, 
and at which most of us laughed, as we detected that 
many of them were collected from that respectable 
authority, " Joe Miller/' and others owing their exis- 
tence to that no less respectable author, "Mr. Penny- 
a-line ;*' after a while we became tired of these stories 
and requested a display of these manifestations so 
much talked about, but to our dismay we were infor- 
med that it could not be done that evening as he had 
not brought his "medium " with him. So some 
of us became rather excited, thinking we had been 
done out of our money, and I fancy the hirsute money- 
taker would have been handled rather roughly had we 
not been appeased by a promise to come again shortly, 
and bring the ''medium " with him. Well, sir, accor- 
ding to promise he "showed out" last evening. 
Warned by former experience, not more than a dozen 
of us attended ; one came four miles, paid his sixpence, 
and loudly demanded to see his old master, our late 
respected friend and neighbour, Mr. King Sampson. 
He declared he must either see him, or have his six- 
pence back ; the latter very reasonable demand was, I 
believe, eventually complied with, and now in great 
and wonderful expectation we accompany Cooper and 



42 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

his double to the scene room.; but scarcely had he put 
his foot within the doorway when bang, bang, rings 
through the room— a noise sufficient to wake the dead. 
" What noise is that 1 " cries Cooper, rather in dismay ; 
audience gaped and stared, horror struck. Hirsute 
money-taker exclaims — 

"Powerful manifestations j" " ow hever can you now 
disbelieve such hexemplifications j you require hevidence 
of han hearthquake." 

Knock, knock, bang, bang, goes the ghost in the 
very centre of the room. Cooper tries to advance to 
the chair, but no. Bang, bang, goes the ghost, and 
stops him. Pale and trembling he asks, " Is there any 
cellar under this room V 1 si No," there is no cellar. 
Bang, bang, again goes the ghost ; no little tap, tap, 
nor even the loud sharp postman' s rap, rap, but great 
and powerful strokes, as if given with a sledge-ham- 
mer—consternation reigns around. a Bless us, what 
can it be V cry some ; others cry " Search the room," 
so some of the boldest look under the tables, chairs, 
into the crevices, and up the chimney, and, indeed, I 
observed one taking a cautious squint into an ink- 
stand. But nothing satisfactory is discovered ; still 
bang, bang, goes the ghost, search round the walls, 
nothing to be noted there, out rushes money-taker, 
and timourously asks the landlord if " his 'ouse is sub- 
ject to noises V 1 " Oh, yes/' landlord replies, (l very 
often indeed, especially when there is a jolly party 
dining here." Thump, thump, bang, bang, goes the 
ghost again. Now all is consternation — some declare 
the devil is under the floor. How could he get there ? 
why a mouse or a fly could scarcely get through the 
air grating ; still more than ever goes the ghost, and 
one of our most respectable cord wainers, feeling very 
nervous, leaves the room, declaring that he saw the 
ghost ascend through the floor as high as the ceiling, 
in the shape of a cloud of dust, through which a poor 
girl plainly saw the table jump up, and the two can- 
dles glare at her so maliciously that she bolted home, 
and so frightened the household there that there was 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES 43 

no sleep for them that night. Bang, bang, still goes 
the ghost, and Cooper and his hirsute money-taker, 
in fear and dismay rush from the room, leaving very 
few, you may be sure behind them, to the front bar, 
where they receive the commiseration and sympathy of 
the friends assembled there, who kindly hoped they 
would get home safely, but said it would take a good 
sum to iuduce them to accompany them even as far as 
Polegate. The cry now became. tm Let us get home," 
and off they ran to the station to catch the last train ; 
and the roars of laughter that followed them, would 
have cured any case of rheumatics, and we hope will 
be a '•' caution " to all spirit rappers in future. 

Now Mr. Editor, if you, or any of your friends, wish 
to see a real ghost, — none of your old fashioned, spec- 
tre-looking things, dressed in a long winding-sheet, 
pale and wau, and gliding past you with a noiseless 
tread; no, no, not that sort of a ghost at all, but a real 
modern one ; a good thumping ghost, one that can 
make you feel and hear him too, — come to the Crown 
Inn at Hailsham, and there you will have your curi- 
osity gratified, and the worthy landlord will do his 
best to allay your fears and your thirst at the same 
time, by exhibiting to you the ghost in the shape of 
■ two or three clothes props* bound together, and truly 
terrific monsters they are. So now, Mr. Editor, having 
told you. all our experiences of " Spiritual Manifesta- 
tions," and feeling a little tired, I will end by hoping 
neither you nor I will ever get a "rap" from the Hail- 
sham ghost. 

One Hard of Belief. 
February, 1864. 



Reappearance of the Hailsham Ghost. 

Sir, — The Hailsham news in your last week's paper 
is of a very unique character, being made up of two 
items — an extraordinary litter of pups, and an extra- 
ordinary litter of lies. It was my intention not to 



44 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. ' 

have noticed the production of one * e Hard of Belief," 
who has thought fit to air his wit at the expense of the 
Spiritualists, for I considered the public would have 
looked upon it as I did, as a clever squib exploded to 
create fun, at which, perhaps, no one laughed more 
heartily than myself. If it did not cure rheumatics, 
it, at any rate, dispelled a fit of indigestion. Finding, 
however, that persons really believe the account, and 
are desiring to know whether my nervous system has 
recovered the shock, and are moreover apprehensive 
that the occurrence may hasten the fulfilment of the 
predictions (notwithstanding the consolation you 
kindly tendered me) of my being at Hay ward's Heath, 
before long, I desire to give a brief account of what 
took place on the occasion alluded to. 

At a former lecture, which was merely introduc- 
tory to the one proposed to be given, some dissatisfac- 
tion was evinced on account of no (H) ocular demon- 
stration being afforded. The consequence was, on the 
second occasion, the audience did not muster very 
strong at first, and those who did come were not a 
class of persons I cared to lecture to, They wanted 
something "sensational." I therefore directed the 
money to be returned, and waited the arrival of train 
time. After a little while the numbers increased to 
above thirty, and a desire was expressed for the lecture 
to be given. At this time I was engaged in telling a 
little knot of the " Hard of Belief '' fraternity, how a 
doctor in this county had his scepticism put to flight 
by witnessing the destruction of a large table by 
spiritual power in his own house, when some noises 
were heard at the other end of the room, which really 
I took but little notice of, imagining them to be made to 
frighten a drunken man, who was making vociferous 
demands to see the devil. After a short interval the 
noises were repeated, and a search was made to disco- 
ver their cause. No one, however, was found under 
the platform, nor up the chimney, both of which 
places were well examined. I did not observe the in- 
dividual " squinting into the inkstand," but I will not 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 45 

say no one did so, for the Hailsham people, as is well 
known, are shrewd investigators. An enquiry was 
next made of the landlord, and on his reporting that 
it was not possible for the noises to be made under- 
neath the room, the astonishment increased, and 
assumed an air of mystery, and I could not help re- 
marking that those who had been the loudest in avow- 
ing their " hardness of belief, " were, of all others, the 
most pale-faced and panic-stricken, thus verifying 
what Dr. Johnson says, that '■ they who deny it by 
their tongues confess it by their fears.'' As for myself 
1 have had too much to do with real ghosts lately to 
be frightened by ghosts made up of a few clothes 
props* 

My own impression is, that Mr. " Hard of Beliefs '' 
point of view was from the snug little bar parlor, 
where, under spirituous influence, and through the 
medium of tobacco-smoke, he witnessed the powerful 
manifestations he describes, saw the glare of the two 
caudles that had not been lighted, heard five volleys of 
il bangs'' that did not go off, and conceived the rest of 
his wonderful story, which would not discredit the 
most practised u penny-a-liner." The letter only re- 
quired one ingredient, viz., truth, to make it a first- 
rate affair, but wanting that, it is merely a weak inven- 
tion of the enemy, affording an illustration, how in a 
weak cause, persons are compelled to resort to persecu- 
tion, ridicule, and such like forms of opposition, instead 
of reasoning and legitimate argumentation. 
I remain, yours, &c. 

Eobert Cooper. 

Eastbourne, February, 20th, 1864. 



46 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Spiritualism at Lewes *■*- Manifestations of Bigotry and 

Rowdyism — Sparrows — Squibs and Crackers — 

Personal danger — In the dark — Escape, 

Nothing daunted by the " Hailsham Ghost," 
after lecturing at Windmill Hill, a small town . 
close by, I announced a lecture at the county town 
of Lewes, a hotbed of religious bigotry and intol- 
lerance, where the various isms from ritualism to 
quakerism thrive most flourishingly. At the ap- 
pointed hour a goodly number of persons had 
assembled at the Corn Exchange, many of whom 
were of the upper classes of the town. There was 
nothing whatever at the commencement of the lec- 
ture to indicate the warm reception that was pro- 
vided for me ; and it was not till I had proceeded 
with it for nearly half- an-hour, that any symptoms 
of disorder were manifested. The first mutterings 
of the storm were caused by one of the forms in 
the rear being thrown down occasionally, produ- 
cing a sound that reverberated through the spa- 
cious hall, and drowning for the time my voice. 
This I, at first, supposed to be accidental, but as 
it continued I appealed to the audience to be quiet 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 47 

for tlie sake of those who might wish to hear what 
I had to say. Then the fracas began in earnest ; 
sparrows were let loose in order to divert attention, 
and squibs and crackers were discharged in the 
room to the great terror of the ladies, one of 
whose dresses narrowly escaped being ignited, and 
she left the room in consequence. Order being- 
somewhat restored I continued my lecture and be- 
gan to think I should get through it after all, but 
some remarks I made, not suiting the narrow 
views of the religionists in the front seats, caused 
the proceedings to take a new and unexpected 
turn. The remarks I made that gave such offence 
will be found further on ; they appeared to me plain 
and simple statements and of a perfectly unobjec- 
tionable character. One gentleman, however, was of 
a different opinion. He rose from his seat and with 
great warmth said, he " would not sit there to 
hear all religion blasphemed,' 7 and abruptly left 
the room, and was followed by others ; whilst 
those who remained, principally the occupants of 
the back seats, rushed towards the platform and 
surrounded me ; and, under the pretext that they 
had not seen any manifestations, demanded back 
their money. They then showed signs of moles- 
tation ; throwing the water that stood on the table 
over me and pushing me off the platform. Mr. 
Powell, who had come forward, received a share 
of the same kind of treatment. At length a few 
gentlemen who had some influence with the mob 
—for it is worthy no better designation — remon- 
strated with them and advised me to leave the 
room, but this I refused to do, although they 
seemed to "mean mischief." The number of 
malcontents gradually became less, and on the 
light being extinguished my protectors escorted 



48 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

me safely to the hotel. I consider myself mainly 
indebted to these gentlemen for my escape from 
the jaws of the lion. I afterwards learned that an 
attempt was made to extinguish the gas in the 
midst of my lecture, but the man who had 
the key, valued his place too much to accept the 
consideration offered him, to give it to those who 
wished \o obtain it. Hence the contemplated 
dark Se'dtoce whiqh would, in all probability, have 
been attended with powerful manifestations did 
not take place. Here is an account of the affair 
from the Sussex ^Express, also a letter of mine con- 
taining the remarks that caused the indignation 
that was manifested, and led to the abrupt termi- 
nation of the meeting. 



Spiritualism at the Corn Exchange. 

On Wednesday evening last Mr. E. Cooper, of East- 
bourne, addressed a numerous assembly at the Corn 
Exchange, on a Modern Spirit Manifestations/' 
Having requested an Englishman's privilege of being 
heard patiently until the close of the lecture, when he 
would invite discussion, Mr. Cooper proceeded to say 
that some might ridicule the subject, as he had done 
himself formerly. Indeed, if any one had told him six 
or seven months ago that he would ultimately believe 
in spiritual manifestations, he would have flatly con- 
tradicted them, but Spiritualism was brought before 
his notice, and he investigated it at first from curiosity, 
and after a careful study of the question he came to 
the conclusion that it was what it professed to be — 
truth (oh, oh, and ironical cheers). He set out with 
this proposition, "Let me have one fact clearly estab- 
lished, however trivial, out of the ordinary course of 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 49 

nature, and I shall be prepared to think everything I 
have heard may have been, and possibly was, true." 
Now, he had seen not only one fact, but hundreds, out 
of the ordinary course of nature ; for instance, he had 
seen a large and heavy table, without castors, move 
about the room in his own house ; and if that was not 
out of the ordinary course of natuie, he hoped the 
learned Editor who had been holding him up to ridi- 
cule at Eastbourne lately would come forward and ex- 
plain it (laughter and cheers.) Mr. Faraday had 
attempted to explain it, but had failed to do so, and 
had played a part in a farce as broad as any ever put 
on the boards of the Adelphi (laughter and counter 
cheers), and he (Mr. Cooper) thought that his judg- 
ment upon the matter was quite as good as Mr. 
Faraday's, or any other man's (laughter). The subject 
was of great interest to all, for who would deny that 
there was a natural instinct which taught us to look 
beyond the tomb, and to endeavour to gain an insight 
into that state on which they must all sooner or later 
enter. All religion in the world recognised the com- 
munion of the people inhabiting the earth with seen 
and unseen spirits, and this was true of Christianity.. 
Having mentioned several instances in the New Tes- 
tament, in which spirits had appeared to living men 
and women, which were not always angels, because 
Moses and Elias were seen, Mr. Cooper went on to 
state that spiritual influences were believed in by some - 
of the greatest men who ever lived, by Socrates, Cicero, 
Pope, Dryden, Milton, Dr. Johnson, Byron, &c. Dreams 
in modern times were generally held to be utterly 
meaningless, but unquestionably the ancients believed 
in their prophetic character. Ill this country, how- 
ever, the importance of dreams had been proved again 
and again. He instanced the murder of Maria Mar- 
tin, some forty years ago.. She was killed by a man 
she was connected, with named Corcler, but his guilt 
was not discovered, till her mother three times succes- 
sively dreamed that the body of her daughter was 
buried in an adjoining barn. There it was found, and 
1 



50 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

in the end the man was hanged. Mr. Cooper then al- 
luded to unaccountable noises heard in houses, which 
he attributed to the doings of spirits, and related 
several anecdotes of the pranks these supernatural 
visitors played. Some years ago loud and extraordi- 
narily strange noises took place in a gentleman's house, 
and continued for a long time ; they were so loud as 
to be heard in the adjoining village, and this was tes- 
tified to by the late John Wesley, on whose veracity 
many of them could rely (cheers). Belief in appari- 
tions had been ascribed to nervousness, but how was it 
then that they had shuddered when exposed to super- 
natural influences. (A dismal howl from some '* dog" 
in the back-ground and considerable laughter). The 
extraordinary freaks of the spirits at the haunted house 
at Eomney Marsh, which were next referred to, were 
fully reported in our paper at the time ; the furniture 
of the house jumped about in a most amusing and 
singular, not to say alarming manner; The tables and 
chairs danced round the room ; some boots on the 
floor flew up to the ceiling and alighted on the table ; 
the crockery ware kept time with the tables and chait a 
and rattled away. Bedsteads marched gravely down- 
stairs. A Bible left its place on the drawers in the 
bedroom, ran down stairs, and hit a little girl on the 
shoulder. Mr. Cooper stated that he actually pro- 
ceeded to the locality, and the circumstances were 
verified to him by a young man, who had seen much 
of it himself. The lecturer then proceeded to the real 
point of the whole affair, — the question of mediums. 
The be-it were generally females. It might be asked 
what constituted a "medium?" and he would answer 
the question by asking another, " How is it that one 
man's nose is longer than another V (laughter) — that 
one man could see further, and another hear better 
than others. So it was with respect to spiritual mani- 
festations. One person had greater capacity for hold- 
ing spiritual communication than another, and where 
that faculty was developed in an extraordinary degree 
they had a first-rate medium. Apparitions were often 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 51 

ascribed to a disordered stomach or an overtasked 
brain, but what became of those suppositions when 
they had to account for apparitions which were ob- 
served by more than one person at the same time. 
Surely every one must conclude that this was not ima- 
ginary. (At this juncture a number of live sparrows 
were let loose from the body of the exchange, they flew 
towards the platform, amidst some laughter and cries 
of " Look out, there are some spirits for you/') The lec- 
turer, however, continued, the audience generally re- 
maining attentive, that theologians held that spirits 
after death could not return to earth, and therefore, 
c >uld not communicate with its inhabitants. He would 
tell them a few instances. When the celebrated Miss 
Porter was living at Esher, in Surrey, an old gentle- 
man in the village used frequently to visit her of an 
afternoon for the purpose of reading a newspaper and 
partaking of a cup of tea. One evening he came in 
and seated himself ; she addressed an observation to 
him, but receiving no reply, looked up, and saw that 
he was gone ; thinking he was ill, and gone home, she 
sent to enquire after him, and the answer was that the 
gentleman had died an hour before. He would also 
give them two examples which had come to his know- 
ledge at Eastbourne. There was a poor woman 
living at Eastbourne, named Pierson, who gained a 
livelihood by washing and charring ; her husband had 
been a soldier in the Peninsular War, and at Water- 
loo, and was at this time an invalid in bed with the 
rheumatism. On one occasion Mrs. Pierson went out 
to wash, &c, at a Mrs. Griffin's; and while she was 
down on her knees scrubbing the floor, she looked up 
and saw her husband standing near her iu his shirt, 
and to show the prejudice of people, he might state 
that a Hastings paper had accused him of indecency in 
talking of a spirit in a shirt (laughter). To proceed 
with the anecdote, Mrs. Pierson advanced towards the 
apparition, which disappeared at once. When Mrs. 
Grifftn came down she told her it was her fancy, but 
when the poor woman got home, sad to say, she found 

E 2 



52 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

her husband dead on the floor, he having broken a 
blood vessel. Another instance was, that formerly an 
old woman, named Downing, kept a sweet shop, and 
under cover of this, used to sell contraband spirits to 
the sailors. Her house was, some time afcer her death, 
occupied by a Mr. Cook, and one morning last year 
he awoke about a quarter past five and saw her appa- 
rition in his room. A fisherman named Hide, passing 
the house early one morning, also saw the apparition. 
She appeared to be about fifteenyards from him. He 
halloed to his sons, but receiving no answer walked 
towards her ; as he advanced the apparition receded 
and turned side -face to ,him, and a very luminous 
halo rendered her face and figure very distinct ; she 
then vanished. A woman named Knghtalso saw her. 
The lecturer, having thus prepared the way, by a var- 
iety of marvellous statements, all resting on totally 
insufficient evidence, as any man, with a reasoning 
power would have told Mr. Cooper, proceeded to 
raise, as he said, his superstructure, that is 
to dilate on the wonders and progress of Spiritualism 
in this country and generally. The audience had, 
however, from the first consisted of two classes ; one 
bent on hearing the lecture, the other on having a 
spree, in imitation of the Hailsham affair. The latter 
were in the back seats, and those had gradually in- 
creased. So one of the benches which had fallen with 
a loud noise at intervals was now plied with great 
vigour. Then crackers were let off in the room, and 
at this stage the respectable part of the audience began 
to disappear. The lecturer most injudiciously, too, as- 
sailed the audience who might have been " managed " 
by one more adroit, but the final blow was given by a 
monstrous and utterly uncalled for onslaught on 
Christianity. He had already ventured on the assertion 
that the evidence on which the wonders of spiritualist 
Seances rested was stronger than that of the miracles 
in the New Testament, the one being matter of re- 
corded, and the other of viva voce, testimony. Then he 
went on to say that the dispensation of Judaism had 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES 53 



lasted 4,000 years ; that of Christianity 2,000 years ; 
and now, to give faith in the soul's immortality, belief 
in which had ceased to be real, the dispensation of 
Spiritualism was — when Mr. Macrae rose, and declar- 
ing that he could no longer remain to hear all religion 
assailed, left the room. He was followed by Mr. But- 
ton, who, however, returned, and many others, and 
after this there being a slight lull, the lecturer pro- 
ceeded more in dumb show, however, than anything 
else. The form fell incessantly, and at last Mr. Powell 
went on the platform, and a consultation took place. 
A little knot of the auditory gathered round, and then 
we found Mr. Bates cross-examining Mr. Cooper with 
respect to a bag of nuts, the number in which the 
spirits at some previous lecture elsewhere, had failed 
to state accurately. There was great excitement in 
the room, and Mr. Cooper being in positive, personal 
danger, Mr. R. Crosskey appealed to the party with 
some success, to leave the room in peace. Gradually 
the numbers present had lessened ; the stalwart form 
of Mr. Geer, of the Star Hotel, was seen looming in 
the distance, and a couple of policemen became dis- 
tinctly visible. So, though there was still evidently 
some danger of " a rush " at Mr. Cooper when he got 
off the platform, none took place, and even when the 
last light was extinguished, Mr. Cooper passed safely 
through the room and secured an undisturbed retreat 
to the interior of the hotel. Of course, Mr. Powell 
accompanied him. It is quite absurd in any one to at- 
tempt to give "lectures" on Spiritualism unaccompa- 
nied by a medium. 



In explanation of the matter which had given 
offence to a portion of the audience, I wrote the 
following letter to the Editor of the Sussex 
Express : — 



54 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



Sir,— In justice to myself and the cause I have at 
heart, I wish to lay before the public the precise words 
which gave such great offence at my lecture at Lewes. 
After showing that Spiritualism was calculated to act 
as a powerful agent in promoting Christian truth, I 
said, ■' Some think the Bible is sufficient, — that it is 
the sole and sufficient rule of faith and practice, — that 
it contains everything necessary for man's salvation. ' 

" Such is douhtless the case as far as those who be- 
lieve in it are concerned. But what of the millions 
upon millions all over the continent, especially in Ger- 
many, France, and Spain, to say nothing of vast num- 
bers in our own country, who are the most confirmed 
and positive materialists, rejecting Christianity, and 
for the most part a God. If such be the case after near 
2,000 years of Christianity, and above 4,000 years of 
Judaism, it clearly proves some new dispensation to be 
necessary to bring home to the mind of man the fact 
of his immortality and his accountability. We have 
it on the authority of Professor Hare, that in his time 
25,000 atheists and deists, in America alone, had been 
converted by Spiritualism to Christianity. ' 

Such is the statement I made, and still make, and I 
challenge any one to controvert it. 

The remarks I made on the superiority of personal 
evidence over historical testimony, is a proposition so 
self-evident, that I cannot imagine any but the most 
narrow-minded and shallow-pated bigot, whose ideas 
are circumscribed by the four walls of his conventicle, 
gainsaying it. 

I remain, &c. 

Kobert Cooper. 
Eastbourne, March, 5th, 1864. 



To which the Editor appended the following 
note — 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 55 

[Mr. Cooper has repeated in substance the remarks 
which aroused the indignation of the Lewes meeting. 
We cannot allow our columns to be made the vehicle of 
sentiments which can only arouse the unanimous in- 
dignation of our readers. What the Eev. Mr. Nangle 
would say to Spiritualism as developed by Mr. Cooper, 
it seems difficult to determine.] 



56 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Another Lecture — A Noble Chairman — Correspon- 
dence — A mare's-nest — Spirit-mess ages— Curious 
experiences — A nocturnal visit. 



The next day I visited Uckfield, a small inland 
town about eight miles from Lewes. The first 
thing that greeted my eye on arriving there was 
a display of large posters, stuck side by side, oc- 
cupying several square feet of the wall. The most 
prominent words on these bills were " Attend," 
and " Spiritualism, " and I at first thought they 
were put up in my interest, but on closer examina- 
tion I found they contained texts from the Old 
Testament against witchcraft, and were evidently 
the work of an opponent. I was afterwards in- 
formed they were stuck up by order of the resident 
clergyman. The room, in spite of the unfavour- 
able state of the weather, was well filled at the 
time appointed for the lecture to begin. At my 
request a gentleman was appointed by the meet- 
ing to the chair. I did not know him at the time 
but was afterwards informed it was Captain Noble, 
who resided in the neighbourhood and filled the 
office of county magistrate. He commenced by de- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



57 



precating tlie conduct of the Lewes people, remark- 
ing " that any fool could make a noise but it wanted 
a wise man to use an argument." He also expressed 
his disapproval of the clergyman's proceedings in 
reference to the bills that were placarded about 
the town. The chairman's judicious remarks 
produced their intended effect, and my lecture 
passed off without interruption. I was listened to 
with considerable attention and great interest was 
evidently felt in the subject. At the conclusion 
Captain Noble got up, and, after stating that he 
had studied scientific subjects for many years, pro- 
ceeded to raise the usual objections that are ad- 
vanced by this class of objectors, advancing the 
Stockwell and Cock Lane Ghosts in proof of the 
fallacy of all supernatural occurrences. He also 
raised the objection generally raised by scientific 
men in reference to the dress of apparitions, ridi- 
culing the idea of the " Ghost of clothes." In a 
few days a letter appeared in the " Sussex Adver- 
tiser ' ' relative to my lecture, which resulted in a pub- 
lished correspondence between myself and Captain 
Noble, in which the noble chairman displayed 
great ability and acumen, so much so, that a 
gentleman of high position in London wrote to 
caution me, saying that I had no mean antagonist 
to deal with. In the course of the correspondence 
Captain Noble overstepped the bounds of pro- 
priety, and, possibly, legality, by calling Mr. 
Home a rank impostor. For this, he was called 
to account, and threatened with an action for libel, 
but on his making a gentlemanly and honorable 
apology, no further steps were taken in the matter. 
After this I visited Hastings, and thus ended my 
first series of lectures ; and I had then no idea of 
giving any more. 



58 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES 

Spiritualism at Uckfield. 

" I have studied, this subject, and practically examined it 
these seven years, and I know much cleverer men who have 
done this much longer.' 1 — William HowrTT. 

TO THE EDITOR. 

Sir, — "' Go it ye cripples, cratches are cheap/ is an 
old saying, revived by Professor De Morgan, as applic- 
able to the opponents of Spiritualism, and appears to 
me to be particularly suited to the Uckfieldites, who, 
failing to provide anything in the shape of a Hailsham 
ghost, or Lewes crackers, find fault with my lecture, 
not with anything I advanced, but on account of the 
absence of the " sensational."' Well, I will do my 
Uckfield audience the compliment to say that on no 
occasion, except at Hastings, have I been listened to 
with such respectful and interested attention as on 
last Thursday week. If I could only have caused a 
table to dance about a little, the lecture would have 
been a triumph in every respect. At the conclusion, 
the chairman, in a very gentlemanly and proper man- 
ner, advanced some objections which I imagined to have 
been satisfactorily replied to at the time, but such not 
being the case, I ask you to grant me a little space to 
set the matter in a right light before the public. 

In the course of my lecture I alluded to two or 
three supernatural events of historic note. One was 
the well-known case of the drummer of Ted worth, and 
another the extraordinary and equally well-known 
affair that occurred in the family of the celebrated 
J ohn Wesley. Captain Noble accused me of forget- 
ting to tell the audience what a certain Mrs. Cleaver 
(is she any relation of Mrs. Partington, and like her 
thinks to keep back the sea ot Spiritualism with a 
broom 1) had said on the subject. I preferred relying 
en higher authorities than Mrs. Cleaver or Clever (I 
don't know how the name is spelt), and I find, in refe- 
rence to the Tedworth affair, that the following is a 
compendium of the essential facts in the case, literally 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 59 

extracted from the Eev. Joseph GlanviFs account, 
who was chaplain to Charles II. : — 

The disturbances continued for two entire years- - 
namely, from April, 1661, until April, 1663 ; and Mr. 
Mompesson took up his quarters for the night, for 
two months at a time, in a particular chamber, ex- 
pressly for the purpose of observing them. The 
sounds produced were so loud as to awaken the 
neighbours in the adjoining village, at a consider- 
able distance from Mr. Mornpessous's house. The 
motion in the children s bed in Mr. Glanvil' s presence, 
was so great as to shake the doors and windows of the 
house. The facts collected by Glanvil at the time 
they occurred, were published by him four years 
afterwards, to wit 1666, and the more important 
of these facts were sworn to in a court of justice. And 
ten years after these occurrences took place, and when 
it was reported that Mr. Mompesson had admitted the 
discovery of a trick, that gentleman explicitly denied 
that he had ever discovered any natural cause for the 
phenomena, and in the most solemn manner indorsed 
his former declarations to Mr. Glanvil. 

Again, with reference to the occurrences in the 
"Wesley family, we have the testimony of John Wesley 
himself, and other members of the family, aud an 
account was also published by the philosopher 
Priestly, fully admitting the facts. The events in 
question lasted two months, and John Wesley made a 
special journey to his father's house for the purpose of 
witnessing them ; and with reference to the Romney 
Marsh affair I had the testimony of the inmates of the 
two houses, and a young farmer, who happened to be 
present when I was there, described several extraor- 
dinary circumstances that he had witnessed. It was, 
however, with great difficulty that I could induce old 
Mrs. Gates to tell me anything about it. With 
streaming eyes she said she wished to forget it. 

I was also reminded that I had forgotten to allude 
to the Cock-Lane Ghost, an account of which was then 
given, but in doing so the gentleman neglected to 



60 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

observe that u The girl was removed from one place 
to another, and was said to be constantly attended 
with the usual noises, though bound and muffled hand 
and foot, and that without any motion in her lips, and 
when she appeared to be asleep ; nay, they were 
often said to be heard in rooms at a considerable dis- 
tance from that where she lay.'' The noises at length 
ceased, and on being told that her father and mother 
would be sent to Newgate if she did not reproduce 
them, she took a piece of board to bed with her and 
began knocking and scratching upon it, and it was at 
once remarked that li these noises were not like those 
which used to be made.'' This, however,; was given 
forth as the explanation of the mystery which had 
6i excited the interest of the learned and the unlearned, 
the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the noble 
and the beggar, and for months was almost the only 
topic of conversalion, not merely in the metropolis but 
throughout the whole kingdom." 

The chairman also took exception to the apparitions 
of Mrs. Downing and Allen Pierson, on the ground 
that they appeared dressed ; consequently he argued 
there must be the ghosts of clothes. It would cer- 
taiuly, to my mind, have been very improper for 
them to appear without attire. The evidence on which 
these alleged appearances rest I fully stated. The 
witnesses are known to me, and I believe are all 
trustworthy. But it is with the objection raised that 
I would say a few words. 

The objection, it will be seen, is of wide range. It 
applies not only to the well-attested accounts of ghosts 
in secular history, in all ages, as well as contemporary 
records, but also to those of the Scriptures. Samuel, 
when called up by the Witch of Endor, came 
" wrapped in a mantle ;" of the angel who rolled back 
the stone from the door of the sepulchre, we are told 
that his " raiment " was u white as snow.'' We are 
told that when Mary saw the risen Saviour she " knew 
not that it was Jesus," but supposed him to be the 
gardener. He must therefore have appeared clothed 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 61 

like ordinary humanity. The angel who appeared to 
Daniel appeared as a man, ''' clothed in linen/' and so 
on. Now I do not mean to assert that the worthy 
chairman has intentionally sought to cast ridicule 
upon these narratives, but the fact that he has thus, 
however unconsciously, supplied material for ribald 
jesting to the sceptic and scorner of holy writ, will, I 
hope, make him pause, and reconsider the propriety of 
burlesquing a subject, capable f at least in other hands 
of this application, and to reflect that, perhaps, he 
may have made a mistake, and that the Bible and 
universal experience after all are right. At any rate 
his objection appears to me quite as censurable as my 
asserting that I esteem that which I see with my 
own eyes and feel with my own hands, superior 
testimony to that I read of having taken place eighteen 
centuries ago. 

Exception was also taken to Miss Fox, through 
whose mediumship the manifestations first took place. 
She was asserted to be a decided humbug. What 
grounds there are for this assertion can be judged by 
reading the account now being published in the 
Spiritual Times. 

But after all, admitting that Mr. Mompesson (a 
magistrate) palmed a hoax upon the public — that Mr. 
Wesley and all the family, including the house-dog, 
were deceived — that Kate Fox was an impostor — that 
the people at Eomney Marsh smashed their household 
effects for no conceivable object— that the witnesses 
who deposed to the appearance of Mrs. Downing and 
Allen Pierson have combined to palm a lie upon the 
public, or were themselves deceived, all this would not 
affect one iota of the phenomena I have myself wit- 
nessed, and at times still witness, which cannot be 
referred to natural oausation. This, at any rate, is 
not the kind of evidence your correspondent alludes 
to. " What somebody heard, what somebody told 
somebody else. 1 ' 

Tliere is one more point I wish to refer to, which 
is this : There is an impression abroad, that, though 



62 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

sincere in the matter myself, I am " influenced by 
others who have not the same honourable intentions.'' 
This certainly is not paying me a very high compli- 
ment. I beg to contradict entirely this false impres- 
sion, which I believe to have been set afloat as one of 
the many phases of opposition. I wish it to be dis- 
tinctly understood that the course I pursue is entirely 
independent. I act on my own judgment, my 
conviction having been the result of evidence too 
decided to resist. If there is any responsibility involv- 
ed I have no desire to shirk it. Neither do I desire 
to claim the merit, if merit there be, of aiding to 
spread a great and important truth, though for its 
sake 1 have incurred the displeasure of friends and 
braved the persecution of foes. 

But admitting, for argument's sake, that I am mad, 
or the dupe. of others, is such the case with everybody 
who believes in Spiritualism ? is such the case with 
the host of men of learning, integrity and 
position, who are its avowed advocates, at the head of 
whom stand Louis Napoleon, Professor De Morgan, 
Dr. Elliotson, William' Howitt, Sir Bulwer Lytton, 
and Judge Edmonds of America ? And I would ask, is 
it reasonable to suppose that Mr. Home would have 
been ordered out of Rome had he possessed no higher 
ability than to shove a table about witli his foot, or, 
as the Uckfield chairman would have us believe, wave 
about in the twilight a stuffed glove at the end of a 
wire 1 The thing is too absurd for belief, and any one 
who takes the trouble calmly to reflect a moment 
must see it must be so. Spiritualists may bide their 
time ; they have the argument, and the facts to 
support it; and herein lies our strength. This is 
obviously admitted. What importance would he 
attached to anything an humble individual like 
myself might say, were it not for the possibility of 
the facts on which I take my stand proving true ( l 
Anything I might advance on my own account, cal- 
culated to affect the present order of things, would be 
regarded as the idle wind. But armed with the 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 63 

argument of facts my words have weight, and the 
issue will entirely depend upon their establishment. 
The opponents of Spiritualism, let me assure them, are 
playing a desperate game. The war they wage is not 
against me or against any other mortal. The weight 
of evidence is on our side. Thev have facts to over- 
throw ; they have truth to overcome, and the angels 
of God to battle against. 

I am, &c, 

Robert Cooper. 
Eastbourne, March 11th, 1864. 

TO THE EDITOR. 

Sir, — Inasmuch as Mr. Cooper has thought fit to 
drag me, by name, into his letter on Spiritualism in 
your impression of the loth instant, will you permit 
me, in reply, to explain my appearance in that con- 
nection, and further to repeat my objections to his 
" facts" in my own words. I mny say, in limine, that 
I attended his lecture out of curiosity, and with a 
wish to hear the conclusions at which a highly res- 
pectable and intelligent man had arrived from personal 
investigation of his subject, I took the chair solely 
in deference to the expressed wish of the meeting, and 
most certainly with no intention, at the outset of en- 
tering into any controversy whatever — my sole 
function, as I understood it, being that of keeping 
order. As the lecture proceeded, however, I became 
so painfully conscious that, albeit the audience might 
be listening to the truth, they were by no means 
getting the whole truth, that I felt it incumbent on 
me, for the benefit of those present, whose acquaintance 
with u spiritual " literature was slighter than my own, 
to offer a few observations upon Mr. Cooper's M facts." 
I was further moved to do so by the consideration 
that the town had been placarded with denunciations 
against all who sought " familiar spirits 7 ' and 
" wizards,'' and that this wonderful example of the 
petitio principii might possibly have induced some well 



64 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

meaning but weak-minded people to fancy that these 
" manifestations " really had some supernatural ele- 
ment in them. Having said thus much in explanation 
of my preseuce at Mr. Cooper's lecture, and of the 
part which I took, I will pass at once to his letter in 
the Sussex Advertiser of Tuesday. 

And here one thing is most perfectly evident, and 
that is that Mr. Cooper utterly ignores the sound old 
maxim, audi alter em partem, and studiously avoids 
reading anything which might shake his new-born 
faith. Mr. Eobert Dale Owen's, Footfalls on the 
Boundaries of Another World is his gospel. Every- 
thing set down in that edifying work is to be believed, 
without cavil, question or examination ; the bare fact 
of the appearance of Mr. Owen's name on the title 
page,isto silence objection, and stifle enquiry; and, 
in fact, to sum up, this is The Book, and, as they say 
on the pill-boxes, •' All others are counterfeits." I am 
irresistibly led to this conclusion from the remarkable 
circumstance that, intimate as Mr. Cooper is with the 
detail of the "manifestations'' in the Fox family 
(the prototypes of the wretched jugglers who " rap " to 
parties at so much a head), he has never heard of Mrs. 
Norman Culver, or, as he spells it, Cleaver. Mrs. 
Culver's best introduction will be her own deposition, 
certified by two witnesses, and made at the town of 
Arcadia, in the province of New York. "Iain," she 
said. " by marriage, a relation of the Fox girls ; their 
brother married my husband's sister. The girls have 
been a great deal at my house, and for about two years 
I was a very sincere believer in the rappings ; but 
some things which I saw when I was visiting the girls 
at Eochester made me suspect that they were de- 
ceiving. I resolved to satisfy myself in some way ; 
and sometime afterwards I made a proposition to 
Catherine to assist her in producing the manifestations. 
I had a cousin visiting me from Michigan, who was 
going to consult the spirits, and I told Catherine that 
if he intended to go to Detroit it would be a great 
thin 2f for them to convince him. I also told her that 



SPIRIT CAL EXPERIENCE.-. 65 

if I could do anything to help her, I would do it 
cheerfully ; that I should probably he able to answer 
all the questions he would ask. and I would do it if 
she would show me how to make the raps. She said 
that as Margaretta was absent, she wanted some one 
to help her, and that if I would become a medium she 
would explain it all to me." I may say shortly that 
Mrs. Culver did assist in this scandalous fraud, and 
was taught by Kate Fox her modus operandi. hi The 
raps," Mrs. Culver goes on to depose, " are produced 
with the toes. All the toes are used. After nearly 
a week's practice with Catherine, showing me how, I 
could produce them perfectly myself. At first it was 
very hard work to doit. Catherine told me to warm 
my feet, or put them in warm water, and it would 
then be easier work to rap; she said that she some- 
times had to warm her feet three or four times in the 
course of an evening ... I can rap with all the 
toes on both feet. . . . Catherine told me how to 
manage to answer the questions ; v and so on> it being 
quite unnecessary to quote further, as it is tolerably 
evident why Mr. Owen found it convenient to omit 
this little expose from his account of the " Hydesville 
Bappings.*' The " account in the Spiritual Times,'' 
does not, somehow, refer to it either ; but as this is 
not yet complete, we must trust to Mr. Cooper to 
publish Mrs. Culver's affidavit in extenso at the 
conclusion ot his account of the Fox family. 

With regard to Mr. Mompesson, and the Drummer 
of Tedworth, Mr. Cooper teds us that Glanvil received 
an explicit denial that any natural cause had been 
discovered for the phenomena. Now, I would ask, 
does Mr. Cooper adopt GlauviFs original account, or 
Sinclair's versions ot Glanvil J and admitting that 
Glanvil was trustworthy iu such a matter (which he 
clearly was not, being a devout believer in witches tt 
id genus omne), what does Mr. Cooper think of that 
part ot the story relating to Mr. Mompesson having 
tired a pistol into a heap of wood that was being dis- 
turbed, and subsequently finding blood tracks on the 
F 



66 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

hearth and down the stairs? It is proverbially diffi- 
cult to " get blood out of astone ;'' but I should fancy 
a mere trifle to getting it out of a spirit ! I do not 
know to which of John Wesley's " ghosts " reference 
is made, but if your readers will turn to vol. 7, Bos- 
well's Life of Johnson, Croker's edition of 1835, at p. 
141, they will find with what contempt Dr. Johnson, 
one of Mr. Cooper's own authorities, spoke of Mr. 
Wesley's evidence for his belief in one, in which his 
brother Charles did not join. My " neglect to ob- 
serve " certain statements with reference to the Cock 
Lane Ghost arose from the fact that I derived my in- 
formation from original sources. If Mr. Cooper will 
kindly peruse Dr. Johnson's own account in the 
Gentleman's Magazine for 1763, he will find that so far 
from the " usual noises " being heard when the " girl 
was u bound and muffled hand and foot," all "scratches 
and knocks '' instantly ceased when " she was required 
to hold her hands out of bed." Here again Mr. 
Cooper has been misled by a garbled account of what 
took place, and, of course, his belief has followed his 
wish in the matter. I heard, for the first time, at the 
Uck field lecture, of the Eomney Marsh business ; but 
the details, as given correspond so very accurately 
with those of a much more famous " event of historic 
note, known as the Stockwell ghost," that I thought 
it only fair to the original " spirit " to give the sub- 
stance of the confession of the servant girl who planned 
and executed it all. A very full account of the matter 
may be found in that repertory of information, Hone's 
Every-day Book, Year Book and Table Book, The 
clothes question I do not care to debate ; it struck 
me as absurd that Mrs. Downing' s spectre should 
have appeared in the ghost of an old cottage straw 
bonnet; but that was ail. Of course it is only con- 
sonant with propriety that an apparation should have 
some attire. A spirit wrapper would seem to be an 
appropriate one. 

With regard to Mr. Cooper's query as to " whether 
it is reasonable to suppose that Mr. Home would have 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 67 

been ordered from Borne, had he possessed no higher 
ability than to shove a table about with his foot, or 
. . . wave about in the twilight a stuffed glove 
at the end of a wire ?* J I may answer, perfectly so. 
In a city where Januarius' blood liquefies, statues 
bleed, and pictures wink, does any body conceive that 
a juggler would be suffered to exhibit for an instant ? 
Of course not, u Two of a trade never agree.'' JR,obin 
would be ordered off ; Bosco's passport would be re- 
turned instanter : and even our own time-honoured 
Jacobs, would never be suffered to make a pudding in 
a hat. Home is, as rank an impostor, I verily believe, 
as ever lived ; but the College of Cardinals can't 
afford even to have a clumsy conjuror's miracles set 
up in opposition to those of the church. No good 
Catholic ever dreams of asking for "evidence.'' 

Finally, I come to the array of names of the iC avow- 
ed " advocates of Spiritualism, with which, however 
I am by no means paralysed, and, imprimis, when did 
Louis Napoleon "avow" himself an "advocate" of 
it ? He had, I know, Home at the Tuilleries, as he 
might have had Eobert Houdin ; but when and to 
whom did he avow that he believed in him ? Professor 
De Morgan has, I think, not yet " avowed " himself 
by name as an advocate of Spiritualism. I should 
grieve sincerely to see him add one more to his own 
•* Budget of Paradoxes." Of Dr. Eiliotson I would 
speak only with unaffected respect. I think as highly 
of his integrity as I do meanly of his judgment. Mr. 
Howitt has long been known as a discoverer of re- 
markable specimens of equine nidification. Sir 
Bulwer Lytton is a man of highly cultivated .intellect, 
and a clever novelist, but scarcely one who would be 
selected to make an experiment. Judge Edmonds 
may be a very good judge, but, unfortunately, we can 
only hear of him in England at second or third-hand. 
So much for Mr. Cooper's list. Now I will myself 
promise to believe in spiritual manifestations when he 
can add to it the names of Lord Brougham, Sir John 
Herschel, Professor Faraday, Mr. Airy, the Astrono- 

F 2 



68 SPIRITUAL EXPEDIENCES. 

mer Boy al, Professor Tyndall, Professor Huxley, Sir 
David Brewster, and Sir Charles Lyell. Here are 
men whose whole lives have been spent in experiment 
and investigation, who would come to the consider- 
ation of the alleged phenomena with all the advantage 
of their long scientific training, and who, at all events 
could not be duped by the professional rappers and 
darkened rooms, nor—predisposed like Mr. Howitt 
and Sir Bulwer Lytton to mysticism — accept whatever 
was told them without enquiry. 

Let me in conclusion earnestly recommend all who 
wish to know what rank humbug spirit-rapping is to 
read an account of a visit to Mrs. Hayden, a medium, 
in vol. 6, p. 217 of Household Words. Of another to 
Mrs. Marshall and her niece, in vol. 3 of All the Year 
Round, p. 37 5 ; another article at p. 540 of the same 
Yol. One in Vol. 7, p. 217 of Household JFbrcfo, and 
articles in Yol. 11, p. 153, 15, p. 217, and 17, p. 580. 
If, after the perusal of these, they are willing to receive 
as *' evidence " Mr. Cooper s spiritual narratives, they 
will only illustrate the truth of what Butler says in 
Hudibras, that 

ce Surely the pleasure is as great 
Of being cheated as to cheat.'' 

I,am, sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

William Noble. 
Forest Lodge, Maresfield. 
17th, March, 1864. 



Spiritualism at Uckfield, 

TO THE EDITOR. 

" All newly-discovered truths have, at first, the lot o f 
struggling against old beliefs, but, in the end, they are 
always victorious.'. — I H. Tichte. 

*' 1 prefer what has been seen by one pair of eyes to all 
reasoning and guessing." — Dr. Chalmers. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES; 69 

M I have studied the question of Spiritualism wherever I 
have gone (in America) and the result is most satisfactory. 
There, the great fight is over, and you hear little compara- 
tively said of it, but you will find it in all the churches. It 
has given new evidence, new life, and a new leaven toChrist- 
tianity tnere." — Robert Chambers, 

Sir, — I must again ask you to allow me to trespass on 
your space, the importance of the subject forming my 
excuse, for in the words of the Britsh Standard in its 
review of Mr. Powell's work on Spiritualism : — " The 
inquiry is by no means the contemptible thing that 
many people wish to consider it. It deals with 
alleged facts, which, if true, are astounding ; and if 
false, still they are objects of interest and they ought 
to be disposed of." 

Captain Noble seems to attach great importance to my 
not having studied the subject from his point of view. 
4< Mr. Cooper/' he says, "utterly ignores the sound 
old maxim, audi alterem partem, and studiously avoids 
reading anything which might shake his new-born 
faith/' This is true, if by it is meant that I did not 
rake up all the ridiculous so-called exposes that have 
been published, and if what I have read is a fair sam- 
ple of the rest, I have no reason to regret not 
having read more . The fact is, I became convinced of 
the truth of Spiritualism by actual experience before 
reading anything on the subject, except the article in 
the Cornhill Magazine, After this, I fell in with one 
of those exposes which appeared to me so truly absurd 
that I did not care to read any more of them. The 
one I allude to was in Once a Week, which professes to 
account for the rising of a table several feet in the air 
by its being lifted by the foot of the medium. The 
window-blind was drawn down by Mr. Home with a 
lazy-tongs. His figure floating through the air was 
produced by a small magic-lantern, which he had con- 
cealed about his person. And as to Mr. Home's foot 
which touched the shoulder of the narrator as he 
ascended into the air, he simply stood upon a chair 
near him, and laid his foot upon him. This is the 



70 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

childish, nonsense that is put forth in the explanation 
of the remarkable Cornhill Seance; and now that 
Mrs. Culver's statement is submitted to my notice, 
I have still less reason to regret that I did not trouble 
myself about such publications. Those who have been 
to Mrs. Marshall's, and heard the raps produced 
through her mediumship, like smart blows with 
the knuckle, on the floor, on the table, on the chair, 
and suddenly transferred to the wallsand ceiling of the 
room, must come to the conclusion that the old lady 
must have very wonderful toes to produce those 
sounds, and fail to see how any amount of soaking 
in warm water could assist the operation. Truly the 
objectors to Spiritualism are, after all, more credulous 
than its believers, for they lend themselves to the 
belief of anything, however improbable or absurd, 
rather than " give in to spirit." I fear the noble cap- 
tain himself has made the mistake he charges me 
with. His investigations have obviously been very 
one sided. He appears to have fallen into the com- 
mon error of trying to prove Spiritualism to be false, 
instead of adopting the more rational course — exam- 
ining it impartially to see whether it be true. 

Capt Noble trusts that I shall publish Mrs. 
Culver's affidavit in extenso in the Spiritual Times. 
Why did he not tell us the sequel which, as he is so 
conversant with these matters, must have been well 
known to him. After giving Mrs. Culver's account, 
why did he not go on and give the full exposure of 
Mrs. Culver's own false statement ? The whole of 
Mrs. Culver s account was known by a further in- 
quiry to be a tissue of the most barefaced lies. The 
Fox girls were submitted to a committee of ladies, 
believers and unbelievers, and tested all sorts of ways, 
even to having them stripped naked and laid on 
cushions, so that their every slightest motion could be 
seen by all the ladies, and yet the knockings still went 
on all over the room. These same Misses Eox, years 
after (one of them now Mrs. Browne), were tested by 
the professors of Harvard College, [Agassiz amongst 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 71 

them, and the knockings went on all over the room, 
on the walls, ceilings, &c., quite out of all reach of the 
young women. No single person has yet been able to 
detect a single trick in either of these ladies, though 
they have had many thousand Seances, and are at this 
day in the greatest esteem by all who know them, 
amongst whom are the highest persons in the United 
States. 

As to Faraday, Lyell, &c, they are good investi- 
gators of physical matters, but they are the very worst 
judges of psychical ones, from their educational 
prejudices. They are disqualified by their precon- 
ceived theories, as much as the most uneducated are 
disqualified for their pursuits. Still worse, they have 
to a man, refused to examine, storing their inveterate 
hatred of everything spiritual. Faraday and Brews- 
ter, indeed made an attempt to examine these things, 
and their utter incapacity for such research has become 
the laughing-stock of all Europe, the scientific world 
included. Faraday's machinery to shew that it was 
muscular motion, which immediately went up to the 
ceiling out of the reach of all muscles, has justly 
become a by-word all the world over. As for poor 
Sir David Brewster, what does Dr. Maitland, the 
learned and witty librarian of Salisbury Cathedral, 
say in his caustic ^little work, Superstition and Science ? 
— " At Mr. Cox's house, Mr. Home, Mr. Cox, Lord 
Brougham, and myself (Sir David) sat down to a small 
table, Mr. Home having previously requested us to 
examine if there was any machinery. When all our 
hands were on the table, noises were heard, rappings 
in abundance, and finally, when we rose up, the table 
actually, as appeared to me, rose from the ground. 
" Here/' says Dr. Maitland, " is one of your men, who, 
we are told are the best judges, and yet he does 
not know actually whether arable under his nose does 
or does not, rise from the ground ! Is it on men so 
grossly and avowedly incompetent to judge of plain 
matter-of-fact, submitted to their senses, that we are 
to fix our faith on physical science P' — p. 76. m Yet 



'2 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

Lord Brougham, Mr. Cox and Mr. Trollope, on the 
same occasion, said, "The table did rise, and no ques- 
tion." 

The best observers are men of plain, common 
sense, the very worst are scientific men, tied up to 
materialistic theories. They were such men as our 
Saviour chose to be the judges of the reality of his 
miracles. Why does captain Noble believe in Christian- 
ity, which had only a carpenter for its founder, and 
a set of ignorant fishermen and tax-gatherers for its 
witnesses ? Had he been then a Eoman centurion on 
the spot, he would have spit his contempt on Christ- 
ianity, as the learned Greeks and Komans did, and 
that for centuries. To them Christianity was a 
humbug, and worse, as Spiritualism is to the super- 
ficial and prejudiced of to-day. 

Spiritualism does not depend on names, but on facts, 
as Christianity did. And yet it has far more learned 
and scientific names than Capt. Noble's religion had 
for centuries. In England we have Drs. Elliotson, 
Ash burner, and Wilkinson, Professor de Morgan, and 
others who are as scientific and capable of judging as 
any Lyells or Tyndals, We have in France the Mar- 
quis de Mirville, Baron de Guldenstubbe. As to its 
phenomena— the Counts Gasparin and Szapary, Favre, 
Mathieu, Cahagnet, Clever de Maldigny, and a long 
list of others. In Germany, Goethe, as great a physi- 
cal philosopher as poet ; Dr. Kerner, noted for his 
electrical and magnetic knowledge; Dr. Gassner, au- 
thor of a noted work on natural science ; Schubert, the 
author of the History of the Soul, equally famous for its 
physical as for its psychol jgic learnings ; Dr. Werner 
and other great natural philosophers ; Baron Eeichen- 
bach, the discoverer of the od-force, and the great 
authority on the subject of aerolites— men all equal to 
our Tyndals or Lyells. In Belgium., the witty and pro- 
found Jobard, late conservator of the Museum of In- 
dustry there. In America, Dr. Hare, whose electrical 
and chemical discoveries, Faraday has availed himself 
of Professors Mapes and Gray, with a fame equal to 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 73 



any of our scientific professors. &c.&c. 

Names are not wanting to Spiritualism to settle any 
question of evidence, But I again repeat it, it is not 
on names, but on facts, that it takes its stand, and 
these facts may be found any day at the firesides of 
millions all the world over. These facts may be pooh- 
poohed by clever captains, but they won't budge a 
foot for an army of soldiers ; and whether they believe 
in them or not, they will continue to exist , and grow, 
and spread, in calm defiance of the world's contempt 
or of its favour. If Capt Noble can only believe on 
the faith of names, his opinion is just as valuable on 
this question as that of the mother of Cuddie Hedri gg 
was on winnowing machines in her day — who would not 
let Cuddie work in a barn with such an impious .ma- 
chine that set aside God's own winds. Spiritualism 
will manage to go on without the intellect of mere 
conventionalism. 

It is hardly necessary to allude to Capt. Noble's sum - 
mary disposal of the names I gave as men of note 
among spiritualists. There is one name, however, 
among the list, to which I would refer, before closing 
this letter — William Howitt, whose literary fame and 
moral worth are as well recognised in America as in 
England and .Europe, and who perhaps has done more for 
Spiritualism in this country than any other individual. 
William Howitt, a mystic ! Truly, there is nothing in 
his writings to indicate it. On the contrary, in every 
sentence we discover the honest, bold, common-sense, 
and uncompromising champion of truth — a fine speci- 
men of the Saxon, who says with regard to Spiritual- 
ism, " If they can put it out, let them. I, tor one, 
will say, ' Thank you,' if they do, for I have no notion 
of believing in anything that can be put out." No 
sir, William Howitt is not the man to be a discoverer 
of remarkable mare's-nests. Such are much more 
likely to be£ found at Maresfield ! 
I remain 

Robert Cooper. 

Eastbourne, March 26th, 1864. 



74 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

[We must decline to insert any further correspon- 
dence on this subject, as we cannot allow our co- 
lumns to be made the medium of a controversy on 
Spiritualism. Ed. S A.] 

I have already alluded to the publicity given to 
Spiritualism by the press. This last correspon- 
dence had perhaps served to ventilate the subject 
better than anything that had preceded it, and the 
public had the arguments, both for and against, 
placed before them ; but I always found the Edi- 
tors much more ready to admit articles against, 
Spiritualism than in its favour, and I generally 
found that when I was getting the best of the ar- 
gument, which I always did, for the simple rea- 
son that I had truth on my side, it was intimated 
that " th.3 correspondence must now cease. " As an 
example of* this unfairness, in the affair of the 
Hailsham Ghost, Mr. Powell and I were both at- 
tacked and we both replied. This produced ano- 
ther letter from One Hard of Belief, but a second 
letter was refused on the ground that two letters 
on our side had already been published. In con- 
sequence of this one-sided conduct, I determined 
to start a paper of my own, which 1 did under the 
title of the ' Spiritual Times and Weekly News.' 
Five numbers only appeared in this form, and the 
title was then altered to 'Spiritual Times, 'and the 
contents restricted to spiritual and kindred topics. 
This was printed for several weeks at Eastbourne, 
but, the bulk of our subscribers and contributors, 
being spread over England and the major part of 
them living in London, it was thought advisable 
to -have the paper printed in London which was 
consequently done. But of this more anon. 

Our Seances were continued, but not in a regu- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 75 

lar manner, and were for the most part composed 
of our own family circle : occasionally however 
they were attended by others who desired evidence 
of the spiritual facts or who were prompted by 
motives of curiosity. The communicating intelli- 
gences were generally our own spirit friends. The 
question of indentity is undoubtedly a difficult one 
even to experienced Spiritualists. I have had, 
however, the most satisfactory proofs of identity in 
the case of my wife, and feel as certain of it as if 
I saw her standing before me in an embodied form. 
The communications were perfectly characteristic 
of herself and when made in writing exactly cor- 
responded with her original chirography. Besides, 
on one occasion, she addressed me by a name she 
was in the habit of calling me, which name I 
had not thought of for years, and I did not at 
first recognise it. This name has frequently been 
repeated. I am of opinion that it is by no means 
uncommon for spirits to personate others, either 
for the purpose of deceiving, or in consequence of 
the one desiring to communicate not being able, 
from some cause, to; do so. I believe also that, 
in the case of professional mediums, the com- 
munications are often made by the spirits that 
attend these persons, and that the information 
given is obtained by reading the mind of the visitor. 
Doubtless there are exceptions to this, but I con- 
sider this to be true in nine instances out of ten. 
In the case of the Marshalls and the Davenports 
there are companies of spirits whose work it is to 
give the manifestations. These spirits are well 
known to the mediums, even their names. The 
Davenports claim to have a dozen concerned in 
their manifestations, but they are only acquainted 
with two or three of them. 



76 SPIRITUAL EXPEFJEXCES. 

In addition to our own spirit friends we were fre- 
quently visited by spirits of whom we had no 
knowledge whatever. On one occasion we had a 
spirit who gave his initials L. S. On my asking 
for his name in full, Laurence Smith was written. 
I next asked him to communicate. This for some 
time he refused to do. At length the words The 
letters for communicating were written. Hereupon, 
I procured the alphabet and pointed to the letters, 
when the following sentence was signalled out : — 

I once was a dentist and lived at Clapham. I failed 
in business and went to live in France where I died of 
the cholera. 

I then said " Have you ever communicated in 
this way before ? " 

No. 

" Would you like me to communicate with any 
of your friends ?" 

J\o, my friends used me very badly, was the reply. 
This spirit in the course of the day wrote his 
name again, adding the date of his death which 
corresponded with the number of years he said, 
in the morning, he had been in the spirit world. 
After this he was frequently present and used to 
indite short sentences such as the following: — 

/ hope you will have a great many people at your 
lecture. 1 wish you success. I take great interest in 
your affairs. 

Our home is a happy one. L. S. 

I once had two little babies that died ; they are with 
me. 

Another spirit came who declined to give his 
name, but said he was very unhappy. I asked 
him to tell me the cause of his unhappiness, but 
this he would not do, saying I do not want to, and 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 77 

on my asking him again, he said / tell you I do 
not want to, is not that enough ? 

Some spirits however would not hesitate to tell 
the cause of their trouble, and would indite sen- 
tences seeming to imply that we could benefit 
them by praying for them. Thus one said — 

Do all you can for me, and God ivill bless you. 

A spirit who gave the name A dele Omersis came 
to us one day. In answer to my questions she 
stated that she used to live in Bloomsbury Square, 
where she died of consumption, some years ago, 
and on being asked, whether she was a good or 
bad spirit, replied Middling. On the following 
day she came again and wrote : 
Je ne suis pas fausse, ma is je ne dirai rien aujour d'hui. 

One Humphrey Short used to visit us, and was 
in the habit of making communications of a reli- 
gious character, such as the following : — 

From the earth I was taken to live with the spirits 
in their world. At first I felt afraid to die, but 
when I saw the saints in glory it was only like throw- 
ing off the earthly crust and putting on the spiritual 
farm, so you must not be afraid to die, but prepare 
to meet your God. 

Beware of all earthly snares, and look towards 
that which is Heavenly. 

You must try and do your duty in this world and 
you will be rewarded in the next; the corruptible 
will put on incorruption and the mortal to ill put on 
immortality in the last day. 

The old clergyman's spirit who used so fre- 
quently to visit us, wrote the following: — 

As the stars shine out from the darkened sky, so it 
is that the spirits descend to earth to open the veil of 
mystery. They take the mist from our eyes, and 



78 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

then we hehold the glories , beauties and realities of 
Spiritualism. 

Two circumstances I must not omit to mention. 
There were two clergymen's widows residing in 
the town, one of whom had recently lost a son, 
and the other a husband* These two departed 
spirits were constantly in the habit of manifesting 
at our Seances. I at length asked them whether 
they would like their friends to be present to 
witness the manifestations ; they replied in the 
affirmative. I consequently spoke to the ladies 
on the subject, and they expressed their willing- 
ness to attend a Seance, remarking that they knew 
nothing of the matter, and were disinclined to 
believe anything of the kind. At the Seance the 
table moved in a more vigorous manner than we 
had before seen it, which drew forth from the 
lady who had lost her son, such expressions as 
these, " How wonderful," " How extraordinary. " 
Presently the spirit soon signified his wish for the 
alphabet, and then rapped out — 
When the Lord took me from this state I knew I 
should be happy. 

The table then tipped to the other lady, and this 
communication was made to her — 
May the blessing of God be upon you f 
and the recipient burst into tears. It may be 
well to remark that the lady who had lost a son, 
holding the ordinary orthodox theologic views, 
was in doubt about his happiness, in consequence 
of his being called away suddenly. It would 
appear that the spirit, knowing the doubt that 
existed in his mother's mind, was anxious to re- 
move it, and having done so and assured her of 
his happiness, wafted his flight to higher spheres, 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 79 

for it is remarkable that he never visited us again; 
neither did the husband of the other lady. 

One day after dinner a child whom we knew 
said, Diner din, 1 liked diner once ; little Charlie. 

A spirit wrote on one occasion in a language we 
did not understand and signed his name ; a very 
peculiar and characteristic autograph. The next day 
he came again, and again wrote his name, which 
exactly corresponded with that of the previous 
day. He said he was Portuguese. In the auto- 
graph of Laurence Smith there was a pecu- 
liarity in the formation of the letters which was 
always the same whenever produced. 

A spirit purporting to be George Pox, the 
celebrated Quaker, paid us a few visits. He 
signalised himself by writing a characteristic 
letter to " Friend Howitt." 

I might thus go on enumerating similar ex? 
periences, but must restrict my observations to a 
few cases involving some peculiar and noteworthy 
features. The first I will mention is this. My 
daughter's mediumship was principally confined 
to writing ; in this she was as good a medium as 
I have met with in my subsequent investigations, 
the excellency consisting in the communications 
that were made through her, being pure and 
simple, and free from the idiosyncracies of her 
own mind. Occasionally, however, indications of 
the drawing faculty w r ould be developed ; but 
these were, for the most part, scarcely worthy of 
notice. One circumstance I cannot pass over 
without recording. We were sitting round a 
table one evening when the hand of the medium 
was seen to be engaged in forming a sort of 
design, which none of us could at first compre- 
hend. When nearly completed, my youngest 



80 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

daughter, who was looking over the shoulder of 
her sister, exclaimed, " Why it's my collar," and, 
sure enough, on comparing it with the collar round 
her neck it was found exactly to correspond, not 
only in the particular pattern, but in the number 
of them that composed the collar. Although my 
daughter was not what is known as a drawing 
medium, her magnetism appeared to be sufficient 
to develope the latent faculty in others. Thus, 
calling one day on a clergyman and his lady, 
after a little conversation on the subject, a few 
messages were indited through my daughter's 
hand. It was then suggested that the lady should 
try, which she did, but after holding the pencil 
for some minutes no apparent effect was produced. 
My daughter then placed her hand on the left 
hand of the lady, and in a few moments the hand 
holding the pencil, was seen to be convulsively 
agitated, and it then began to draw little sketches 
consisting of landscapes and flowers. The lady 
said they were done without any volition on her 
part, in fact she did not know what they were 
going to be whilst they were in the course of for- 
mation. 

I have already spoken of being awoke by spirits 
just as I was falling to sleep. I will now mention 
another circumstance which occurred to me in the 
night. The experience of all times proves that 
the organization of some persons is more suscepti- 
ble of spiritual influence when asleep than when 
awake, and in this state they become the subject of 
visions, dreams, &c. ; to quote the words ol Job — 
" In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep 
sleep falleth on men, in slumberings on their bed, 
then God openeth the ears of men and sealeth 
their instruction." A receptivity to spiritual in- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 81 

fluence appears to be induced at a certain stage of 
somnolency; the sound sleep of a person in robust 
health is not the condition that favours it, but 
the light sleep of the invalid ; hence it is that 
these results are commonly attributed to a dis- 
ordered imagination arising from ill health. This 
state may be promoted by the administration of 
certain drugs, and the mediumistic power generally 
may be increased by the employment of them. 

Possessing no mediumistic power by which the 
spirits can manifest through my organization, I 
nevertheless am susceptible of spiritual impres- 
sion, and my susceptibility appears to be increased 
when in a semi-wakeful state. One night — I 
appeared to be perfectly awake, but I doubt 
whether I was so ; the probability is, I was in 
some abnormal condition — well, when in this state, 
awake or asleep, I heard a person in the room. 
He came to the side of my bed, and leaning over 
me placed his face against mine. I raised my 
hands and grasped a head with an old-fashioned 
cotton night-cap on. I exclaimed in fear " Who 
is it ? a voice replied, It's your father, and the 
apparition, or whatever it was, was gone. The 
next day, when communicating with the spirits, I 
asked, in allusion to the occurrence of the previous 
night, whether it was a dream or whether it was 
really my father's spirit that had visited me ; they 
said in reply it was his spirit. " What did he 
come for?" I enquired, To remind you of Turn 
was the answer. In addition to the seeming 
reality of this occurrence — for the sounds of the 
footsteps, the flesh-like feel of the fa:e, the 
distinctness of the voice, all had iL.e effect 
of reality, differing entirely from a dream — it is 
werthy of remark thai my father, dying when I 



82 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

was young, is but little remembered by nie ; my 
principal recollection of him being derived from 
sleeping with him, when he wore a cap such as 
I have described. This was the only occasion he 
ever manifested his presence to me. My mother, 
however, did so more frequently, but not very 
often. I am of opinion that the longer persons 
are in the spirit-world the less inclination they 
have to return to earth. There are however in- 
stances on record where spirits, from some 
cause, have hung about their earthly abode for 
two hundred years or more. We hear a good 
deal from sceptics about mediums claiming to have 
the power of " calling up " any spirit at will. I 
need scarcely say that this arises from an entire 
misapprehension of the subject on the part of 
sceptics, or from a pretence, either designed or 
from ignorance on the part of the mediums, to a 
power they do not possess. They may " call spirits " 
as Shatspeare says, but no power on earth can 
compel them to come. I never made it the prac- 
tice to ask for any particular spirit ; I complied 
with the conditions necessary for the production of 
the manifestations, and then allowed the spirits to 
present themselves as they thought proper, 
never attempting to exercise any control over them ; 
and this I am satisfied is the best way to manage 
these matters. 

A Russian gentleman was sometimes present at 
our Seances. Though not a professed believer in 
{Spiritualism he had received evidence of a spirit- 
ual character that disposed him to accept the 
communications which came through the table as 
genuine. Ho asserted that when at seat he dis- 
tinctly saw his sister, who was in Eussia at the 
time, and on his arrival there he found she had 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 83 

died at the time he saw the apparition. At our 
meetings he used to get into communication with 
Russian spirits and conversed with them in his 
own language. One of them volunteered some 
curious information, to the effect that the late 
Czar committed suicide by taking poison, mention- 
ing the kind of poison and other particulars. 

A young lady who was on a visit to Mr. Powell 
came to my house one evening. She had never 
witnessed any manifestations, and in fact knew 
but little of the subject. In the course of the 
Seance she became under spirit infhieuce and gave 
evidence of strong mediumistic power. She as- 
serted that she could see a spirit whom she recog- 
nised. On retiring to bed she could not sleep on 
account of the furniture in the room being in a 
state of locomotion. Being alarmed, she called 
Mrs. Powell to sleep with her, and they then both 
saw several articles of furniture in motion. The 
next day she received communications through 
her own hand and, afterwards, had some very 
curious and interesting experiences. I believe she 
did not cultivate her medium powers to any extent, 
for on her return home, the subject met the disap- 
proval of her friends, but the spirits gave 
occasional evidence of their presence in spite of 
their objections. 

It has hitherto been the custom to regard an 
such events as I am considering, by those who admit 
them at all, as supernatural, bub it will be found 
that the term is hardly a correct one when the 
facts in question are viewed from a scientific point 
of view and in the light of modern experience. 
That higher and more recondite laws than those we 
are ordinarily fainilis r with come into operation 
is undoubtedly true, but that any breach of law is 
g2 



84 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 

involved in their production there is no ground 
for supposing. Viewed in this light, one of ! the 
most formidable objections of the materialist, who 
denies the possibility of infraction of any natural 
law is done away with, and the most thorough 
sceptic in these matters requires only a reasonable 
amount of evidence or reliable testimony to induce 
him to accept the spiritual phenomena. 

In order properly to observe spiritual manifes- 
tations it is necessary to secure conditions. In 
addition to having a person through whose organ- 
ization the spirits can operate, there are other points 
to be observed, such as the harmony of the circle, 
the state of the atmosphere, and the amount of 
light ; and above all the spirits must be present 
and willing to act, for it is a mistake to suppose 
that they are always present or that they will pro- 
duce manifestations without a purpose. In the 
course of what I shall further advance one or two 
remarkable instances will be given in proof of this 
and I w T iil noAV mention a case illustrating the im- 
portance of suitable conditions. 

One evening we were seated round the harmoni- 
um engaged in singing and not thinking at all 
about spirits, when my daughter said, " The spirits 
are here, they will not let me sit still/ 7 Upon 
which I said we would finish our piece and then 
hear what they had to say, On the completion of 
the music, we turned to the table and it was then 
intimated that they wanted us to go to Mrs. Tebb 
(a lady on a visit to the town who possessed medi- 
umistic powers.) I said in reply, " It's late and 
the w T eather is stormy and Mrs. Tebb is not ex- 
pecting us. 5 ' Do go, they said, ive can give ym good 
manifestations to night, t lie conditions are right. 

I baid, "You must excuse us; we really can't 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 85 

go to night." After repeating the request for us 
to go, and on niy positively declining, they rapped 
out, Then we go sorrowing. It may be well to ob- 
serve that the weather at this time was stormy, 
with sudden wind squalls and heavy showers of 
rain and hail, accompanied by thunder and light- 
ning. 

I have already spoken of the advice given to my 
children producing a salutary effect on them. 
On the occasion of my daughter's birthday we held 
a Seance at which a few friends were present. 
The physical demonstrations were unusually power- 
ful, the large dining table being raised a foot in the 
air and also moving without contact. A request 
was made that a communication should be given 
suitable to the occasion ; the answer was Not now, 
when ive are alone— to-morrow at three o 1 clock At 
the time named we were on the Downs at Beachy 
Head. We sat down on the grass and immedi- 
ately received the following beautiful and appro- 
priate message 

lam here. I trust you mag grow up to he a bless- 
ing to your dear Papa, brothers, and sisters, and all 
th-e kind friends around you. May you ever love and 
serve your maker, and when you look around on these 
beautiful works of nature, you see in them the love God 
has had for you, poor sinners. look higher and mag 
you ever, my darling child, look up to Jesus as your 
father and counsellor. Pray to him dear one. E ch 
year may you ever feel that he is nearer to you and try, 
dear Mary, to worship him and do not think too much 
of these earthly things, but look higher, higher, 
higher. — K Cooper. 

I will only mention two or three more incidents 
and then pass on. My daughter being ill was visited 
by the spirits as she lay in bed. They told her what 



86 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

had made her ill, and gave directions to promote 
her recovery saying to her at the same time words 
full of kind and affectionate sympathy. They 
also reproved one of my sons for not controlling 
his temper, and, on an array of photographs being 
displayed of different members of the family, they 
gave an opinion as to which was the best portrait 
of each individual. 

Thus matters went on, till the month of April, 
not a day passing without receiving communications 
from our spirit-friends— if we happened to forget 
them they did not forget us — when they began 
again to urge me to lecture. This I declined to do 
on the ground that there was a difficulty in gett- 
ing audiences without exhibiting manifestations. 
But the spirits were as importunate as in the first 
instance, and at every Seance made urgent requests 
for me to give some more lectures ; the requests being 
couched in such words as these, When are you 
going to do what your dear wife asks you ? At length 
I consented, and forthwith arranged to deliver 
lectures in several towns in a westerly direction com- 
mencing at Brighton. Having done this I received 
this remarkable communication, I have done my 
tvorlc and shall now only come on special missions. 
"What work do you mean"? I asked. 
Establishing this great fact in your mind. 
From this time the visits of our spirit friends 
ceased to be made with any degree of regularity, 
but were as angels' visits are said to be," few and 
far between' ' . The anniversary of my wedding day 
occurred soon after the above incident when my wife 
neither forgot me nor the event, but addressed me 
as follows ; — 

I am dead and yet alive. My body is in the ground 
but my spirit enjoys everlasting happiness in heaven. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 37 

I well remember the time wlm% we ivere marri.d, how 
happy I was; but I am far Jiappiernow, and if you follow 
the footsteps of Jesus you icill enjoy ilie same everlasting 
happiness. Farewell dear est \ we part bid for a time 
to meet again in a world of bliss* 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Lecture at Brighton — A clerical opponent — Affray at 
Southsea — Lectures at Ryde — A scientific witness — 
Ventnor— Southampton, Sfc, 

I commenced my lecture tour at Brighton and had 
an audience of about two hundred persons, most of 
whom were the upper classes. I was attentively 
listened to^ and the whole passed off without inter- 
ruption beyond a demand or two being made to "see 
something ;" one gentleman asking me to make a 
table go up in the air then and there for his satis- 
faction ; upon which another got up and said he 
had not come with the expectation of seeing any ex- 
periments, a lecture only having been announced. 
This remark of course, had a better effect coming from 
one of the audience than from myself. My lecture 
being finished a clerical looking gentleman, who 
during the lecture I took for a bishop but who 
turned out to be the Rev. Robert Ainslie the 
Unitarian minister of the town, moun ted the plat- 
form and commenced by saying that he had the 
day oefore spoken to his congregation about the sub- 
ject of my lecture, and recommended them to come 
and hear me for he did not think I was fairly 



SPIRITUAL EXPEDIENCES. 89 

treated at Lewes. I, of course, admired the 
speaker's candour and sense of justice and began 
to think I had made an important convert to the 
views I was propounding. But I soon found I 
Avas mistaken, and discovered that his real object 
in adopting the apparently liberal course towards 
me was, not that his congregation might be edified 
by hearing me lecture on Spiritualism, but that 
they might witness his dexterity in setting me 
down. He then commenced a long tirade against 
Spiritualism displaying;entire 5 jgnorarice of the sub- 
ject and offering the usual materialistic objections. 
" Shew me a table in motion" said he " and I will 
very soon shew you what makes it move". He 
said he once saw something in the moonlight which 
he took for a ghost but which turned out to be a 
donkey or something of the kind. This of course, 
had great weight with the audience and produced 
much laughter. The Eev. gentleman brought his 
remarks to a climax by asking in an emphatic man- 
ner " Do you think the Divine Being would permit 
a happy spirit to leave its ethereal home to count 
a dozen nuts ?" As a concluding piece of folly 
one gentleman proposed to the audience to hold up 
their hands to ascertain how many converts I had 
made, and as none held up their hands, he chuck- 
led with delight, forgetting that I commenced my 
lecture by saying that I did not expect, by my re- 
marks? to make converts — that my aim was to in- 
duce investigation. 

The next lecture I'gave was at Southsea in the 
large Portland Hall, at which an incident occurred 
of which the following is an account taken from 
one of the local papers : — 

The following amusing conversation then took place 



90 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

between Mr. O'Eeilly and the lecturer : — Mr. 0' Eeilly : 
Can you do anything of this sort now ? — (Laughter, 
and hear, hear.) — Lecturer : I am not a medium. — Mr. 
O' Eeilly : But if there is amediumhere 1 — Lecturer : 
I don't think the experiments are suitable for a public 
audience. — {A laugh.) — Mr. O'Eeilly : How do you 
know ? — Lecturer : I judge from the experience I have 
had in the matter. The spirits are not always under 
control. — (A laugh.) — Mr. O' Eeilly : Why not try. — 
Lecturer : We will try if there is a medium here. I 
tried it once at a public meeting, and it was success- 
ful. — Mr. O'Eeilly : Can anything of the kind be done 
now 1 — Lecturer : Not unless there is a medium present. 
— Mr. O'Eeilly : How do you know a person is a me- 
dium ? — Lecturer : That is only done by actual trial. 
I and several others tried one night, and we were about 
to give it up in despair, when up went the table. — Mr 
O'Eeilly : I suppose you've heard of the man who made 
an extraordinary leap in Eome, and when asked if he 
would repeat it, said he was not in Eome. — (Laughter.) 
— A gentleman near the platform, who had frequently 
manifested his approval of the lecturer's remarks, rose 
and said he could testify to the truth of a great deal of 
the lecturer's statements. — Mr. O'Eeilly said he had 
come there for information.— The gentleman near the 
platform : We don't come here to listen to you, we come 
here to listen to the lecturer.— Mr. O'Eeilly : I suppose 
not, and the less you say the more you'll shine — The 
gentleman near the platform here rose with great 
warmth? and was about to rush upon -Mr. O'Eeilly, 
when he was seized by two ladies; who bagged him to 
compose himself. 

The next day I visited Gosport where I found the 
whole attention of the town taken up by a gentle- 
man, who assumed the name of " Parallax," pro- 
mulgating a new theory respecting the shape and 
size of the earth and the distance of the heavenly 
bodies : in fact ho endeavoured to make out that our 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 91 

system of astronomy was wrong altogether. I 
learned on my arrival that the room I had engaged 
to lecture in had been nightly filled for several 
days past by an eager crowd interested in listening 
to a debate which had been got up by" Parallax," 
between himself and some naval officers. The re- 
sult was as I expected. The public had had 
enough of lectures on either mundane or super- 
mundane themes and I obtained no audience ; they 
were too much interested about the shape and size 
of this world to care to hear anything about the 
future one. Instead of lecturing I adjourned to 
the house of the Independent Minister, who had 
come to the Hall to hear me, and had some conver- 
sation with him on Spiritualism. The next day the 
Rev. gentleman witnessed some writing through my 
daughter, the comunicating intelligence professing 
to be a former member of his congregation. This 
gentleman, like most of his cloth, seemed more in- 
clined to question the propriety of Spiritualism 
than to doubt its facts, and like most persons had 
a ghost story to tell. He told me that the house 
he occupied before he came to Q-osport had the 
reputation of being haunted ; that sounds like a 
man walking up and down stairs with loose slip- 
pers on were perfectly heard. This was supposed 
to be the spirit of the late occupant of the house. 
A very remarkable circumstance occured which 
could never be accounted for. One day whilst the 
family were at prayers a loud noise, as if a tray 
full of china and glass were suddenly let fall, was 
heard in the adjoining room, and though an im- 
mediate search was made to see what was the 
matter nothing could be found to account ■ for the 
sound which had caused the alarm. 

I next visited Eyde in the Isle of Wight. Here 



92 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

I found a friend to the cause — the first I had met 
with in ray travels. Mr. Bruderick the author of 
an excellent little book " Is it true ?." is he to 
whom I allude. His little book was then in 
manuscript and my opinion was asked as to the 
advisability of publishing it. I pronounced 
favourably and think still better of it now that I 
have read it in print. To my surprise Mr. Brode- 
rick, although very well acquainted with spiritual 
matters and on which he had written an excellent 
book, had never seen any manifestations ; accord- 
ingly I invited him to my rooms at night intending 
to hold a Seance that he might witness some pheno- 
mena if any could be elicited. We sat at a 
table and succeeded in getting it to move, but no- 
thing very astonishing took place. He was how- 
ever informed by the spirits that he was a medium, 
which turned out to be true, and in the appendix 
of his book he has given a very interesting ac- 
count of his development. 

I delivered my lecture at the Victoria Rooms and 
was listened to very attentively. At its close a 
gentleman, who, I was afterwards informed was a 
doctor, asked, in reference to the levitation of Mr. 
Home, to which I had referred, whether I believed 
the law of gravitation was suspended to produce 
the result. In reply I told him 1 did not believe 
anything of the kind ; the phenomenon was pro- 
duced by a force coming into operation which 
overcame the law of gravitation. Hereupon a 
gentleman named Paul arose and said he could 
corroborate my statements so far as the tabl e phe- 
nomena were concerned, for he and his brother had 
paid a visit to Mrs. Marshall and they w T ere both 
satisfied of the reality of the phenomena, but 
questioned their spiritual origin. He then w r ent 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 93 

on to describe how he had requested a table to re- 
main suspended in the air while he counted twenty 
which was done. Mr. Paul illustrated the sus- 
pension of the table by holding a chair in the air. 
He had also written to Professor de Morgan, whom 
he knew very well, and received the following 
reply :— 

" I am perfectly satisfied that phenomena simh as 
you describe are genuine, and this from what I have 
seen and heard on evidence which I cannot doubt. 
What they arise from I cannot tell. The physical 
phenomena you describe are beyond all explanation ; 
but still there may be physical foices we know noth- 
ing of. The mental phenomena are far more difficult. 
There must be, so far as we can see, some nnseerk 
intelligence mixed np in the matter. Spirit or no 
spirit there is, at least, a reading of one mind by 
something out of that mind." 

Mr Paul had, previous to my visit to Eyde, read 
a paper before the Philosophical and Scientific 
Society of the town on the subject. This is pub- 
lished in Mr. Broderick's book and is well worth 
pemsal.* 

Proceeding to Ventnor I gave my lecture there. 
The clergyman of the parish was present and was 
an attentive listener. When I had finished he 
expressed belief in my sincerity, condemned 
Spiritualism as satanic, and advised his " dear 
friends " to have nothing to do with it, 

I next went down to Cowes and thence to 
Southampton where I made the acquaintance of 
<; Parallax." This gentleman evinced great in- 
terest in Spiritualism, and seemed much more in- 
clined to accept my views concerning the next 
world than I was his relating to this. The lady 
with whom I lodged told me of some spiritual 
* Is it True ? Pitman, 



94 SPIRITUAL EXPEBIENCES. 

experiences she had had. One was to this effect. 
She dreamed she attended a funeral. The cortege 
passed through a long avenue of trees, and the 
burial took place by the side of a Cyprus tree. 
The locality was unknown to her at the time. 
Her dream was realized in every particular. 

Another old lady in whose house I lodged at 
Havant told me of a curious circumstance that 
happened to her husband. He possessed a boat, 
and when he went to it he said he saw himself 
sitting in it. In a few days the boat was run 
down by a revenue Cutter and its owner drown- 
ed. Visiting other towns on my return home, 
where nothing worthy of note occurred, I com- 
pleted my lecturing tour, which, though not so 
successful as I anticipated, was doubtless the 
means of bringing the subject, through the press, 
to the minds of thousands ; full and accurate 
reports of the lectures appearing in many news- 
papers. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES.' " 95 



CHAPTER IX. 

An American medium— Singular disturbances — The 
solicitous mother— The doors opened by spirits — 
Seances at Mrs. Marshall's — A guitar played in 
the light. 

A few more circumstances of my earlier ex- 
periences remain to be recorded before passing on 
to the main object of this book— my experiences 
tvith the Davenport Brothers. 

Mr. Oonklim a medium from America, being 
on a visit to this country, I availed myself of the 
opportunity to give some friends evidence of 
spirit action through his mediumship. At my 
request he came to Eastbourne, and I invited 
about a dozen persons interested in the subject to 
witness the manifestations that take place in his 
presence. All these persons were, I believe, con- 
vinced of the reality of them. Mr. Oonklin is 
what is known as. a test medium. I also invited 
two Lewes gentlemen^ who were connected with 
the press, to have the evidence Mr. Conklin could 
give, and the foliowiBg is an account of their ex- 
perience as published at the time. 



96 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

Mr. J. B. Conklin, the' American test medium, has 
given ns some very remarkable evidences of bis medium- 
istic powers. He was entertained by Mr. E. Cooper, 
at whose house some very conclusive illustrations of 
spirit presence have been given. On Saturday even- 
ing a number of gentlemen who had formerly, at a 
public meeting, been elected to make some investiga- 
tions along with Mr. Cooper, with a view to test the 
reality of the alleged phenomena, were favoured with a 
sitting. Mr. Conklin desired them, one by one, to sit 
at the opposite end of the table to himself, and to take 
a number of pieces of paper, write on each the degree 
of relationship of some friend or relative deceased. 
This was done, and the paper rolled up into pellets and 
thrown into the centre of the table. The medium then 
picked out one of the pieces of paper and threw it to- 
wards the person giving the test. A number of other 
pieces of paper, with the christian names of the depart- 
ed were inscribed ; the papers being rolled up in the 
same manner, the medium picked out one as before. 
Afterwards the diseases — the ages — and the places of 
death were each written and made into pellets ; and 
singular enough the medium picked out of each let a 
single pellet- When the selected pieces were opened 
they were generally found to correspond. 

Mr. Jas. Bates and Mr. Alfred Duplock, of Lewes, 
two gentlem en who.had been promised by Mr. Cooper 
when he was at Lewes, that he would give them an op- 
portunity of witnessing some illustrations of spirit 
power, were next favoured with a sitting, at which 
some extraordinary ,and confessedly to them unaccoun- 
table, phenomena took place. 

Mr. Bates tried the pellets, and having used twelve 
pieces of paper was wonderfully astonished to find that 
the medium picked out three of the pellets containing 
the degree of relationship — christian name, and the age 
of one dead. He was the more staggered at this from 
the fact that he had written most ot his pellets in short- 
hand. A similar process was adopted witii Mr. Dup- 
lock, with nearly the same succors 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 97 

At a third and last sitting a gentleman desired to 
Lave the name o iven of an enveloped photograph 
after he had failed in getting the right ageof his deceas- 
ed relation, but had obtained the place of death. A 
number of eight or nine names was written — the table 
signalled one "Eobinson ;" and the communicating spirit 
persisted in having it *•' Eobinson." Mr. Cooper was 
requested to close his eyes and draw a black-lead pencil 
slowly along the paper over the written names. He 
did so ; when the pencil reached "Eobinson " the table 
ambled. The paper containing the names was then 
turned over, the blank side uppermost. Mr. Cooper 
closed his eyes again, drawing his pencil over the paper 
as before — the table knocked — Mr. Cooper stopped, 
and to the astonishment of most of the company his 
pencil was on the name " Eobinson "again. Mr. Bates 
then took the paper containing the names— tore the 
names separately off, and made them into pellets. It 
was impossible that any one could say which pellet 
contained the written name Eobinson ; but singularly 
enough the table knocked out assent when the right 
pellet was held up. The name Eobinson was signalled 
altogether seven times in different ways. During this 
sitting five of tie company had unmistakable touches — 
taps or grips from invisible hands. We ourselves were 
four or nve times taken hold below the knee. 

Mr. Duplock felt a pressure on his knee, and put his. 
hand down to feel the cause, when he had the satisfac- 
tion of feeling a spirit hand take hold of his. Miss. 
Cooper and a Miss Peel each had several grips, or pulls 
and Mr. Conklin was dragged from li is chair partly uii- 
derthe table. 

During these sittings two tables — one weighing 
about 80 lbs., and the other about 112 lbs. — were sev- 
eral times raised by spirit-power above terrajirma. 

Mr. ConklhVs visit to Eastbourne is very satis- 
factory. He appears an unassuming, earnest, intelli- 
gent man, and from the marvellous medium powers 
he possesses, must be regarded as a man among 
men." 



98 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

Soon after this Mr. Conklin went to Glasgow, 
where he experienced very rough and unfair 
treatment. A pamphlet, written by a Mr. Pater- 
son, professed to be an exposure of the whole 
affair, but according to the writer's own statements 
there are many things, connected with the answer- 
ing of questions, difficult to account for. The 
lilting of the table was explained by suggesting 
that the medium had hooks concealed in his 
sleeves ! 

Some time after the events I have recorded 
took place we had some very singular experiences, 
a brief account of which, I will endeavour to 
give. Strange and unaccountable noises were 
heard in my house at times during the day — 
sometimes rappings; at other times sounds like 
sweeping with a brush ; and once sounds like a 
small silver bell were occasionally heard in the 
adjoining room, and on going there to see what 
occasioned them, they were heard in the room 
that had been vacated. At night the noises in- 
creased to such an extent that it was difficult to 
sleep. I was awakened by them and my children 
were kept awake and had a light burning nearly 
the whole of the night. They continued at inter- 
vals throughout the following day, and were 
renewed with increased vigour at night. For 
about two hours there was the sound as of a 
person walking up and down the stairs moaning. 
The servants on going to their bedroom heard the 
name Sarah, which was the name of one of them, 
distinctly whispered. The noises continued at 
intervals again the next day, and increased to 
such an extent in the evening that the servants 
said they were afraid to be ia the kitchen. It 
then occurred to me that the spirits desired to 



SPIRITUAL EXPEBIENCES, 99 

make a communication, and accordingly I took 
my daughter to the kitchen, and we sat at the table 
and very soon ascertained what was the matter. 
A spirit who purported to be the mother of one of 
them wanted her to come to the table and receive a 
communication. This she refused to do ; she had 
been advised to have nothing to do with it, she 
said she " did not believe it was spirits." After 
some persuasion she was at length induced to sit 
at the table, when communications were written 
out by her own hand. The purport of these 
communications was to warn her against 
some young man with whom she had become 
acquainted. After this the servants went to their 
bedrooms when the noises were as bad as ever, 
and in addition they feit hands pressing all round 
the bed. In the morning this curious ^message 
was given through the girl : — 

There shall be great noises in the night, if any man 
says we are not spirits, he shall be plagued. 

The young man was given up, the mother's 
solicitude was at an end, and from that time the 
disturbances ceased. 

At day break one morning Mr. and Mrs. Hicks 
were awoke by hearing a sound as if the table wei*e 
struck with a whip. On looking in the direction 
of the sound they saw the lower drawer of a 
chest come a little way out and presently a little 
farther. Mr. Hicks got out of bed and shut the 
drawer and on opening it again it made the same 
noise that had awoke them. This was occasioned 
by the drawer hanging at first starting. At night 
I went to Mr. Hick's house and he told me of the 
circumstance and shewed me the drawer. After 
trying in vain to find a solution we adjourned to 
the room below and held a Seance, and in the 
h2 



100 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

course of the evening the mysterious affair of the 
drawer was alluded to. I said, " Perhaps the 
spirits can tell us something about it. " 
I did it, was instantly rapped out. 
" What did you do it for ?" I asked. 
To set you thinking, was the reply. 
Mr. Hicks be it observed was one who, like Sir 
David Brewster would not " give in to spirit," 
and referred all the wondrous doings he had wit- 
nessed to magnetism and attempted to explain the 
opening of the drawer by the expansion of the air 
by heat. Truly there is no credulity like incredu- 
lity! 

It is a remarkable fact in connection with the 
manifestations of spirits that at times they cannot 
even move a table unless it is in contact with the 
medium, whilst at other times they can operate 
when no person is near it ; thus I have occasionally 
heard the furniture, in the room where we had 
been holding a Seance, m motion after retiring to 
bed ; and on one occasion we were surprised at 
finding, on coming down stairs in the morning the 
front door and the outer door, also the door of the 
basement floor all wide open. These were all 
fastened as usual on retiring at night. 

One circumstance only remains to be mentioned 
in connection with my preliminary experiences. A 
distinguished preacher in London expressed a desire 
to witness some manifestations. Mr. Posvell and I 
accompanied him to Mrs. Marshall's. After mak- 
ing an examination of the table to be used, we took 
oiir seats, with Mrs. Marshall, round the table. 
Our friend asked for his^ name to be spelt out, 
which was immediately done by raps. Neither of 
the Christian names were known to us, and one 
is a very peculiar one. Questions were then asked, 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 10 fc 

and answered, more or less to he satisfaction of 
the inquirer. A guitar was then held in the posi- 
tion of a bass-viol when played on, and the strings 
were then forcibly thrummed. Two or three speci- 
mens of direct writing without visible hands were 
produced ; and on a ring and a tumbler being placed 
on the floor a clink was heard and the ring was 
found inside the glass. All these things took place 
in broad day-light and under circumstances that 
admitted of no possible trick or deception. 

I have thus endeavoured to narrate, in as plain and 
simple a manner as I am capable of, the principal 
events of my first few months' experience in Spirit- 
ualism. I entered upon its investigation a dis- 
believer in the supernatural, but (belief being an 
involuntary action or condition of the mind) the 
force of facts was so great that a revolution was 
wrought in my opinions, and the evidence I receiv- 
ed resulted in making me a decided and practical 
convert. 



102 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 



CHAFTEB X. 

The age of Invention — Greater marvels. — The Daven 
port Manifestations. — Sicientfic Incredulity — « achie^ J 
ved impossibilities.— High Inspirations. 

" This is the patent age of new inventions". So 
said Lord Byron some forty years ago ; and looking 
back to that period — the ti me of my childhood — 
what many and wonderful inventions have since been 
made and bronght into use ; Invention has succeeded 
invention and discovery discovery with extraordinary 
rapidity, and society in every department, has been 
more or less affected by them. At the period re- 
ferred to the steam engine was invented bnt not 
developed. Eailways were in their infancy and 
steamboats a novelty ; the Electric Telegraph was 
not dreamt of. In fact all these mighty agencies 
of progress by which work is done, labour saved, and 
time and space almost annihilated, may be said to 
have had their birth and growth during the last 
half century. The period has also been prolific in 
other important matters ; great advance has been 
made in the arts and sciences ; inventive genius has 
been active in a variety of ways. Machinery has 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 105 

been made to supersede manual labour in almost 
everything. The Sewing machine has superseded 
the needle : lucif er matches have taken the place 
of the old-fashioned tinder-box, and are now 
manufactured to the extent of 500 millions annu- 
ally. Chloroform has rendered surgical opera- 
tions painless. The sun paints our likeness with 
marvellous fidelity, and a portrait can now be 
obtained for a trifle, more striking and characteris- 
tic, than any amount of money could before have 
purchased. Great Exhibitions were things unknown 
to our ancestors and underground ^Railways above 
their comprehension. The improved character of 
our war implements has, owing to their efficiency 
been the means of settling a dispute in as many 
days as it would formerly have taken years. Our 
war ships are made on a principle that would be 
an enigma to Nelson. The Great Eastern is a 
grand triumph of naval architecture, exceeding 
Noah's Ark in its gigantic proportions. The Print- 
ing Press sends forth an abundant supply of use- 
ful and excellent literature at an almost nominal 
cost, and the daily Penny Paper is the cheapest 
thing a penny ever purchased. The Penny Post 
circulates our letters with despatch and subserves 
the interests of business and affection, at the same 
time promoting the cultivation of the intellectual 
faculties among the masses. Gas has taken the 
place of candles and oil lamps, and the wonderful 
discovery of Petroleum renders it probable that 
Coal gas will be superseded bj it ; and, in enumer- 
ating the most remarkable discoveries of the last 
half century we must not omit the finding of Gold 
in California and America, the satisfactory solution 
of the North West Passage, the unsolved problem of 
three centuries, thedisovery of the sources of the Nile, 



104 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

and the canal connection between the Ked Sea 
and the Mediterranean across the Isthmus of Suez. 
The extinction of Slavery in America and Serfdom 
inBussia are also notable and most important event?. 
In contemplating all these marvels of the past few 
years which are fast ceasing, by their familiarity, 
to be regarded as such, and which the ignorant 
take as signs of the end of the world, the mind 
naturally asks, "What next? for we cannot suppose 
that we have arrived at the culminating point of 
discovery. The probability is, we are on the eve of 
something still greater ; for like a descending stone 
whoso impetus increases in its flight, invention, like 
jealousy, " grows by what it feeds on;" and there- 
fore, reasoning by analogy, the discoveries of the 
past will give impetus to further progressive de- 
velopments, and, in the future, their effects will be 
seen in the physical and moral elevation of the 
human race and the amelioration of the condition of 
its individual members. 

Truly the past half- century has been productive 
of many wonders, a hundred times more so than * 

any similar period of the world's history, and, as if to 
crown them, the greatest wonder of all — the direct 
action of spirit on matter — is now made manifest 
amongst us ; for in the spiritual manifestations 
vouchsafed to the present age we behold a marvel 
unsurpassed in the history of mankind, " the mar- 
vel of inanimate matter moving without mortal con- 
tact and displaying intelligence, and that intelli- 
gence embracing a knowledge of the alphabet, of 
reading, writing and arithmetic ; speaking in many 
tongues and reading human thought, and reveal- 
ing to us what purports to be the spirit life with 
letails which no imagination can fabricate." 
In addition to these varied forms of manifestations 



* 



SPIItfTTJAL EXPERIENCES. 105 

adopted by the Spirit World to gain recognition, 
still more remarkable phenomena are witnessed in 
the presence of the Davenports ; such as playing of 
musical instruments, the tying and the untying 
of ropes, the formation of hands and arms, not 
spectral, but real, tangible and palpable hands, 
formed in a moment of time and as quickly dissi- 
pated into " thin air;" and the extraordinary 
fact of matter passing through matter. The in- 
telligent mind has only to be satisfied of the 
truth of these occurrences to be forced to acknow- 
ledge that they far transcend in marvellousness 
all the marvels I have attempted to summarise. 
These spiritual phenomena are too wonderful to 
come within the scope of the comprehension of 
most persons, educated as they have been in the 
principles of materialistic philosophy ; and the 
result is they deem them unworthy of investigation, 
set them down as a " popular delusion " of the 
age, and will not trouble themselves to ascertain 
whether they are false or true. They form an 
a priori judgment based on their preconceived 
notions, and ignore the subject as preposterous 
and absurd ; and yet these facts have been demon- 
strated to the satisfaction of thousands, and it 
would be a very easy matter to make a long list 
of names of men, eniine at in their respective de- 
partments, who, after a lengthened experience and 
a most critical examination, have acknowledged 
the verity of the facts and their sinritual origin. 
That they are rejected by the quasi learned is no 
argument against them; on the contrary, if the 
past is any criterion to go by in reterenoe to the 
reception of new truths, the con duct of our so- 
called leaders of the intellectual world in this 
matter, 'h strong evidence in their favour, for, as 



106 SPIEITTJAL EXPEBIENCES. 

Mr. Howitt justly observes, " the scientific, the 
journalists and the clergy have always been the 
foremost jin opposing the nascent truth of the time;" 
and these are the very men who are the principal op- 
ponents of Spiritualism. No new truth is ever 
ushered full-blown into existence, but, like a 
flower, has to go through regular stages of 
development before obtaining general recognition ; 
and as the tender plant is almost beaten down by 
the force of the contending elements but in the 
end is invigorated by them, so Truth, though kept 
down for a season by various forms of opposition, 
ultimately triumphs and takes deeper and firmer 
root from the ordeal it has passed. It is the in- 
evitable fate of all new truths to meet with oppo- 
sition, which generally proceeds, not so much from 
the ignorant as the learned, who never appear to 
be made wise by the folly of their predecessors. 
One important lesson we learn from the cursory 
retrospect of past achievements, and that is, that 
many things that were once deemed impossible 
are now accepted and familiar facts, having a 
practical realization in the present. Who, for in- 
stance, twenty years ago, would have deemed it 
possible for a message to be sent from London to 
New York and an answer received in the short 
space of an hour or two ? and yet it is done ; or 
who a few years ago, would have thought it pos- 
sible to go from London to Paris in about ten 
hours ? and yet these journies are daily accom- 
plished ; or, to take another example, who would 
have contemplated the probability of a portrait 
being taken with, in some cases, an almost objec- 
tionable accuracy, in the space of a few seconds ? 
yet such is the case. These examples suffice to 
shew the unwisdom of limiting the possible by 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 107 

our own standard of experience and knowledge. 
He is the wisest man, who, recognising the 
complex nature of man and his mysterious 
surroundings, refuses to assign any limit as to 
what can or cannot be, but like the great Sir 
Isaac Newton confesses that he is "like a child 
picking up pebbles on the shore, whilst the great 
ocean of Truth lies before him unexplored !" It 
has been well said that "we are never farther 
from the Truth than when we imagine that the 
largest amount of human knowledge is anything 
but as the light of a taper in the sunshine of the 
Infinite, or when we cease to perceive that we are 
girt about on all sides by mystery !" 
The spiritual phenomena which are now regard- 
ed with so much distrust have under the name of 
the supernatural, been known in all ages and 
among all nations, which may be proved by a 
reference to a number of reliable authors. Those 
who have not time to make the necessary research- 
es for themselves cannot do better than read 
Mr. Howitt's " History of the Supernatural/ ' in 
which they will find a vast and compendious 
collection of well authenticated spiritual facts from 
a variety of sources. It will be seen by a reference 
to this work that spiritual facts are not confined 
to Bible history but, as I have already observed, 
are to be found in the history of all nations ; and 
instead of ceasing, as some assert, at the time of 
Christ, have continued in some form or other ever 
since. What are known as modern spirit 
jnanifestations, differ from the Spiritualism of the 
past in this respect, that they are capable of 
being elicited almost at will in the presence of 
certain persons ; and so true is this in the case of 
the Davenports that they rarely fail to get the 



I OS SPIRITUAL EXPEDIENCES. 

manifestations when they desire them, although 
they are sometimes much more powerful than at 
others. 

I have already stated the difficulty I experienced 
at my lectures on account cf my inability to illus- 
trate them by experimen ts. "Wherever I w ent there 
was a demand for manifestations. The public 
seemed to be under the impression (that is, those 
were disposed to believe in my statements) that I 
could " call spirits from the vasty deep " at will 
and that the manifestations were under control; 
that the spiritual phenomena in fact could be ex- 
hibited with as much facility as dissolving views ; 
but, at that time my experience taught me that 
there was so much uncertainty about them that 
it would be unwise to announce anything in the 
way of manifestations. I had seen accounts from 
time to time in the American papers of the public 
manifestations of the Brothers Davenport and I 
determined to invite them to this country, believing 
they would supply the want I stood so much in 
need of. I accordingly wrote to them, and by a 
curious coincidence I received intelligence of their 
intended visit to England about the same time my 
letter must have reached America. About the 
time of their arrival in this country (Sept. 1864) 
I was on a visit with my daughter to a gentle- 
man in London who was much interested in the 
subject of Spiritualism. During this visit two 
curious circumstances occurred, which, though 
they have no connection with the Davenports are 
worth recording. Our hcst was in the habit of 
driving us out in Ins carriage, and one day on 
passing the Monument, he proposed that we 
should make its ascent. We did so, and when on 
the top he suggested that we should endeavour to 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES . 109 

get a communication from the spirit world, re- 
marking that it might probably be of an elevated 
character. The trial was accordingly made and 
immediately the words Hook it, were written, 
followed by the name Thomas Rood. After a brief 
interval the following words were written in a 
different hand, Be charitable ; give a penny to that poor 
man. It was at first thought that the man alluded 
to was the man in charge of the monument, but 
on enquiring the medium's hand was directed to 
the street below, and on looking down we 
observed a wooden-legged man soliciting alms— 
a fair object of charity. I need not say that on 
descending, the wishes of our spirit friend were 
complied with. The next day we ascended St. 
Paul's, where the following communication was 
given : — - 

Ye frail children of men, ye worthless generation, 
ye whom Jesus died to save, ye are hut mites compared 
with the Great, Good, and Infinite Being who made 
you all. Oh! Mess and praise Him. Oh! ye 
children of men, give Him thanks for all this bountiful 
oodness. May the grace of tlie Lord he with you 
Amen. — A Clergyman. 
On being asked his name Charles Gray was 



110 SPIRITUAL EXPEIENCES. 



CHAPTEE XI 

The Davenports in London — Kerr Tolmaque — First 
Seance — Medical critics. 

I took an early opportunity, in company with 
Mr. K. of calling upon the Davenport party to 
make their acquaintance. Just at this time the 
first notices of the manifestations appeared in the 
newspapers, occasioning great excitement in the 
public mind and setting the conjurors on the alert. 
The day on which I visited the Davenports, a let- 
ter from Herr Tolmaque appeared in the papers 
undertaking/to do, by natural means, all the Da- 
venports did and more too, if I remember right. It 
was written in such a plausible and decided man- 
ner that even those favourable to the Davenports 
were staggered by it ; and Mr. K. with great sim- 
plicity took Dr. Ferguson aside and said, " There 
is a man who pledges himself to do all the 
Davenports do. Now I don't wish to be mixed up 
with this matter if it is mere conjuring ; tell me 
therefore candidly whether it is true or no." I 
shall never forget the Doctor's reply. In a solemn 
and emphatic manner he said, " it s as true as god." 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. Ill 

With this assurance we started off to find 
Herr Tolmaque to inquire into his pretensions*. 
His address was a coffee house near the Strand, 
but he was not at home. We afterwards learnt 
that it was an indispensable condition with Herr 
Tolmaque to be paid £20 before he would 
consent to reveal any of his knowledge. This 
information saved us the trouble of farther 
search after him. 

The first Seance I attended was at the Hanover 
Square Rooms, in an upper chamber, about twen- 
ty persons being present. On this occasion Dr. 
Eadcliffe and another medical gentleman acted as 
committee. The manifestations were witnessed by 
me in silence amidst the sceptical remarks of 
most of those present. The evidence to my mind 
was conclusive and I imagined the world would 
soon become convinced of the reality of the spirit- 
ual phenomena. All present were more or less 
puzzled, and several explanations were attempted. 
That which found most favour was, that there was 
a communication with the back of the cabinet, 
which stood about six inches from the wall. The 
committee, at the close, looked crest-fallen, for they 
had evidently come there thinking, as hundreds 
have done before and since, to unravel the mystery, 
but had failed to do so. Only the cabinet Seance 
took place, but Dr. Ferguson described the prin- 
cipal features of the dark Seance, which were 
received with much apparent incredulity, especially 
his allusion to the taking off of Mr. Fay's coat 
while his hands were fast tied. An account of 
this Seance was published in the Lancet, in which 
the writer made the sapient remark, that there 
would be no difficulty in accounting for the mani- 
festations if they could understand how the 



112 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

Davenports could untie and re-tie themselves so 
quickly! After all, this shrewd criticism is per- 
haps equal to any that subsequently appeared, if 
we except that of a writer in the Field who suggest- 
ed that the real use of the boxes in which the 
cabinet is packed, is to secrete a small boy in, 
who produces all the wonders. 

On leaving the room and reaching the foot ef 
the stair-case I encountered a number of medi- 
cal students emerging from the room below, where 
the Annual Address of one of the medical schools 
had just been delivered. " What's going on up 
stairs?" asks one gentleman of another. " Its 
the Davenports," was tha reply. " What's that ?" 
"Oh, awful humbug; perfect rot ;" and judging 
from the address recently delivered by Mr. Richard 
Barwell, F. E. C. S. at the opening of the medi- 
cal school at Charing Cross Hospital, this is the 
estimate still formed of the Davenports by the 
medical profession. Here is what this modern 
►Solon says, "Mesmerism, clairvoyance, electro- 
biology succeeded each other, and as each experi- 
menter outbids his fellows in the marvellous so 
the public was stimulated even to the swallowing 
of Spiritualism and table-rapping. A mind greedy 
of the marvellous would scarcely be checked by 
any thing, but the limits of absurdity had probably 
been reached with the idea that disembodied 
spirits should delight themselves in the company 
of two mountebanks, hid up in a cupboard play- 
ing "Sally come up," or other graceless melodies 
on a vile guitar or wheezy accordion." This, the 
professor no doubt thought very clever, and his 
audience evidently thought eo too, for it elicited 
"loud laughter" 

It has been, said that a goose that quacks in the 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 113 

Lancet finding that his blunderbuss misses fire, 
takes the usual alternative of trying to knock 
down truth and fracture enquiry with the butt-end. 
This Professor Faraday at first did in refer- 
ence to Spiritualism, but latterly he has adopted a 
different course, — he now prefers giving it a 
wide berth. Some three or four years ago an ar- 
rangement was made for him to witness Mr. 
Home's manifestations when he required to be 
furnished with a programme, and as this could 
not be done he declined to attend. Professor 
Faraday was invited to the test Seance of the Da- 
venports, that took place at Mr. Boucicault's, at 
which several distinguished persons were present. 
Instead of asking for a programme in this instance 
which he might have had, he sent the following 
letter: — 

Royal Istitution of Great Britain. 

Gentlemen, — I am obliged by your courteous invi- 
tation, but really have been so disappointed by the 
manifestations to which my notice has at different 
times been called, that I am not encouraged to give 
any more attention to them ; and therefore leave those 
to which you refer in the hands of the professors of 
legerdemain. If spirit communications, not utterly 
worthless, should happen to start into activity, I will 
trust the spirits to find out for themselves how they 
can move my attention. I am tired of them. With 
thanks, I am very truly yours, 

M. Faraday. 

The Brothers Davenport. 

The assumption and self-importance displayed 
in this letter are hardly worthy a great philoso- 
pher ; but Truth will assert its claims in spite of 
the Faradays and Brewsters of the time, although 
spirit be the " last thing they will give in to," 
i 



114 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

In all ages it has owed more to credulity than to 
conceited scepticism and self-sufficient prejudice, 
and unfolds before those who watch and wait in 
humility sitting like children at the feet of a re- 
vered teacher 

It will be unnecessary for me to follow the 
Davenports in their short, and for the time, suc- 
cessful career in England; my object being to 
record the principal incidents that occurred 
during my more immediate connection with them. 
It will be sufficient then to state that they gave 
public Seances at the Hanover Square Rooms, and 
private ones, almost nightly, at the residences of 
the nobility and gentry, to the end of 1864. I, 
then, arranged with them to visit Brighton and 
several other towns where I had delivered lectures, 
and from this time they continued in the provinces 
till the fracas at Liverpool and Huddersfleld occur- 
red. These organized conspiracies to put the 
exhibition down were in a measure successful, 
giving, as they did, the impression that the " bub- 
ble was burst," and from that time the popularity 
of the Davenports began to wane. They, howev- 
er exhibited immediately afterwards with complete 
success in London, Cheltenham, and Bath, and 
then resolved to visit Paris. 

For some time after their arrival in France they 
were unable to exhibit in public. This arose from 
inability to obtain the necessary permit which was 
probably witheld on account of the disturbances 
that had occurred in England. During the time 
they were "laying on their oars " Seances were 
given in private before many distinguished men 
and members of the press which caused notices to 
appear in the newspapers and some of these were 
of a highly sensational character. A controversy 



SPIRITUAL EXPRIENCES. 115 

ensued which was kept up for several weeks and 
raised the excitement and curiosity of the public 
to the highest pitch ; and when at length a public 
Seance was announced the Salle Herz was filled 
with an eager an excited crowd. The manifesta- 
tions had just commenced with every promise of a 
triumph, when an emissary of Robin, the 
conjuror, stepped on the platform, and, under 
pretence of examining the cabinet, tore the rail 
that supported one of the seats from its place, 
and holding it up oefore the excited crowd, asser- 
ted that he had discovered a secret spring. Great 
confusion ensued which prevented an explanation 
being given, and although the Davenports 
offered to proceed with the exhibition, the police, 
to avoid a row, ordered the room to be cleaied. 
This affair was of course trumpeted forth as 
another exposure, and for the time they did not 
know how to make enough of it, but in a few 
days they were constrained to admit that " the 
exposure of the Davenports had not been so 
complete as was at first supposed." The Seances 
were continued, but by order of the Prefect the 
audiences were restricted to sixty persons. Just 
as they were on the point of leaving Paris they 
received a summons to appear at the palace of St. 
Cloud, where the Emperor and Empress and 
a party of about forty witnessed the manifesta- 
tions with astonishment and at the close expressed 
their entire satisfaction. 

A few days after, .Robin gave his exhibition — a 
professed exposure of the Davenports — at the 
palace. It was supposed at the time, by those 
who knew the Emperor to be a believer in spirit- 
ual phenomena, that his object in sending for 
Eobin was from motives of policy, but it subse- 
12 



116 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

quently transpired that it was done to allay the 
excitement of the youthful Prince, who witnessed 
the Davenport exhibition and had since done 
nothing but talk about the "spirits." The Em- 
peror pronounced Robin's performance the great- 
est rubbish he had ever seen. 

While in Paris the Davenports were visited by 
Hamilton, the successor of the far-famed Eobert 
Houdinj who seems to possess more honesty and 
candour than the generality of the conjuring 
fraternity. In a letter addressed to one of the 
Paris newspapers he says — 

"The phenomena surpassed my expectations, and the 
experiments are full of interest for me. I consider it 
my duty to add they are inexplicable." 

A manufacturer of conjuring apparatus named 
Rhys, also published a letter in which, after 
enumerating the conditions under which the 
Davenport exhibitions take place, says — 
" Under the conditions you observe no one has yet 
produced anything similar to the phenomena I wit- 
nessed, indeed, I believe it would be impossible. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 117 



CHAPTER XII 

The Davenports in Ireland. 

The visit of the Davenports to Paris can 
hardly be considered a successful one, taking 
into account the time they spent there and the 
few Seances that were given. This, following 
upon the disastrous break-up in England, had a 
discouraging effect on them and they were al- 
most resolved to return to their own country. At 
this juncture, knowing the value of their medium- 
ship on account of its capability for public display, 
I proposed to them to give some more Seances in 
England. To this they assented, and accordingly 
I arranged with them to exhibit at the Hanover 
Square Rooms, undertaking the part myself 
recently enacted by Dr. Ferguson. The Seances 
passed off quietly and successfully, but the atten- 
dance was not so good as desired. At this time I 
was visited by Mr. Lauder from Dublin, who 
strongly advised me to take the Davenports to 
that City, assuring me of success. I submitted 
the proposal to the Brothers, and it was agreed to 
take the advice of " John," for, be it observed 



118 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

the Davenports never take any important step 
without consulting their spirit friends. Ira 
Davenport and I took an early opportunity 
therefore of adjoining to a dark chamber that we 
might take the opinion of " John " on the pro- 
posed visit to Ireland. "We had not been secluded 
a minute before I was touched on the shoulder, 
and, in reply to my question, a gruff voice almost 
too thick to be intelligible, said Go immediately ; 
but nothing more could be elicited. It was how- 
ever afterwards rapped out as we were sitting at 
the table, Beware of the shillelaghs. 

It may be well here to observe that the spirits 
in communicating with the Davenports usually 
speak in an audible voice. This, I am 
aware, will be discredited by most persons, but it 
is nevertheless a fact which numbers of persons, 
both in America and England, have realized and 
are as well satisfied of as myself. It will 
probably be objected that, inasmuch as articula- 
tion is produced by the action of the vocal organs 
on the air, — that in fact it is a mechanical act— it 
is impossible for a being of a spiritual order to act 
on the air in such a way as to produce the phe- 
nomenon of speech. jjThis is doubtless a valid 
objection, which I would meet in^this way. Spirits 
exist in a spiritual form, and their power over 
matter is such as to enable them under favourable 
conditions, to materialize their forms, or parts of 
them, the production of hands and arms being of 
very common occurrence. These hands are, for 
the time, real, palpable, material hands, and 
possess the qualities and properties of living, 
human hands. I have seen the veins and felt 
the nails on them. They are formed momentarily 
and are dissipated as quickly. How this is effect- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 119 

ed we cannot understand ; neither can we how 
the earth is suspended in space, how the grass 
grows, how the egg is converted into & chick, 
or how the food is assimilated and converted 
into blood. Yet these are all familiar facts, and 
if the production of spirit forms was as common, 
it would excite no more wonder than they do. 
The spirits themselves say it is done by an effort 
of will. To produce the speaking, the vocal 
organs are doubtless materialized in the same 
way as the hands, and if the one be possible why 
not the other ? As I shall frequently have occasion 
to allude to conversations held with the spirits 
during my connection with the Davenports, it 
will be well, I think, to state a few more particu- 
lars with regard to this wonderful fact, so that, if 
possible, my readers may be satisfied that it is no 
myth, but a truth that can be established as well 
as any of the other facts of Spiritualism. 

I will first describe the circumstances under 
which I first heard spirits speak. One evening, 
just after the Liverpool riot, I was in company 
with the Davenports, and they said to me, u We 
are going to have a talk with " John " to-night; 
he has expressed a wish to speak with us. Will 
you come and hear what he has to say ?" I 
readily assented, and, accompanied by Mr. Powell 
proceeded with them to the Great Western Hotel. 
The window of a bedroom being darkened for the 
occasion, we took our seats, the party consisting 
of the Brothers, Mr. Fay, Dr. Ferguson, myself, 
Mr. Powell, and a gentleman, a friend of the 
Davenports, who was residing in the Hotel. The 
Brothers sat on the bed, Dr. F. in front of them, 
Mr. Fay by his side and the rest of us sat facing 
them. The room was a long one, and on a table 



120 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

at one end was placed the horn used in the 
cabinet. The candle was blown out and we sat 
about a minute in silence ; raps were then heard 
on the wall. "Will John speak to us now?" 
asked Dr. Ferguson ; on which a report took 
place as if the table were struck with a heavy 
hammer, and the horn on the table was heard to 
be in motion. The next minute a shrill female 
voice was heard immediately in front of us. It 
was like that of a person of the lower walks of life 
and talked away, like many persons do, for the 
mere sake of talking. It was intimated that it was 
"Kate" who was speaking. There was a great 
attempt on her part at being witty, but according 
to my ideas of such matters, most of what was 
said would come under the category of small — 
very small — wit. The gentleman present, to 
whom I have alluded, was the especial object of 
her facetiousness. He, it appears, was in Liver- 
pool at the time the cabinet was smashed, and, 
being recognized in the crowd, a fragment of 
the broken cabinet was thrust in his face with the 
cry, "That's one of them, he ought to be made to 
eat it." This episode formed the subject of Kate's 
jokes, and she rung the changes on it to a most 
ridiculous extent. The horn at length fell on the 
floor, and was again raised in the air and a gruff 
voice was heard speaking through it. This we 
were informed was the redoubtable "John," who, 
judging from his salutation had not recovered 
from his displeasure at the Liverpool row. In an 
earnest and emphatic manner he proceeded to 
tell the Davenports how to act in the emergency. 
He told them not to take any steps in reference to 
the Liverpool affair, but to go on as if nothing 
had happened — to go on in spite of every kind of 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 121 

opposition He told them to put no more 
bills out challenging the conjurors — these, 
he said, had served a good purpose, but were no 
use now, and then, in an authoritative manner 
added, Tell Palmer I want to speak to him. Palmer is 
like a lull in front of a steam engine i, not so much 
courage, and after a pause, nor as much sense. 

"Shall we have any more rows, John ?" asked 
one of the Davenports. It's very probable. The 
voice then ceased, and the female began speaking 
again, reverting to " eating the cabinet." Sound- 
ing immediately in front of me the voice asked 
Who's this man with the glass eyes ? 
" That's Mr. Cooper. 
And who's this ? 

That's Mr. Powell." The horn then rested on 
my knee and I said " am I to take the horn ?" 

To which I received the following very ungra- 
cious reply, If you do. III knock it about your head. 
We were then wished Goodnight by the invisibles. 
A light was struck and every thing was found in 
the same position as when the light was extin- 
guished, except the horn which was lying at 
our feefc. 

The readiest explanation of what I have des- 
cribed will be, that I was imposed upon, and that 
the alleged spirit voices were the result of ven- 
triloquism ; but of this I am the best judge and 
am certain such was not the case ; besides, my ex- 
perience has since been much extended in this di- 
rection, and if I had any doubt of the genuineness 
of this phase of the phenomena at the time, I am 
now in a position to speak most positively as to its 
reality. These proofs I shall give as I proceed. 

Besides, the phenomenon of spirits talking in an 
audible voice is not peculiar to the Davenports. 



122 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

It takes place in the presence of other mediums. 
It has frequently occurred in Scotland, accounts of 
which are published ; it occurs in the presence 
of the sister of the Davenports, and is 
heard almost nightly at the house of Mr. Cham- 
pernowne, at Kingston-on-thames. To prove its 
reality the Davenports submit to the test of 
holding water in their mouths. With a view to 
corroborate my statement I give the testimony of 
Dr. Nichols, who was present at a Seance which 
took place after the break-up in Huddersfield, 
and which was held in the same room and pretty 
much under the same circumstances as the one I 
have given an account of. 

On the evening of Feb, 28, 1865, I received a tele- 
gram from Dr. Ferguson, asking me to come to room 
120, Great Western Hotel, Paddington. I took a 
cab, found him at the place appointed, and heard 
from him an account of the riot at Leeds the night 
before. 

The two Davenports and Mr. Fay came into the 
room, but the latter, being ill, soon retired. An 
English gentleman of property residing in the hotel, 
interested in a scientific examination of the phenom- 
ena attending the Brothers, was also present. 

When the matter of the riots and outrages at 
Liverpool, Huddersfield, and Leeds had been discussed 
and we had consulted on the steps proper to be taken 
in view of so violent an opposition, the Brothers, Ira 
and William , proposed that "John" — the name by 
which they designate what seems to be the chief of 
the invisible intelligences attending them — should be 
invited to take part in the council. 

The conditions necessary to an oral converse with 
the invisible " John " were darkness and a speaking 
trumpet— horn— tube of pasteboard— in short, a small 
hard tube. The gentleman above mentioned, whom I 
will designate as Mr. X., volunteered to go in search 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 123 

of such an instrument. In his absence the window- 
was darkened, and the fire in the grate extinguished. 
He returned with the only thing of the kind he could 
find, a^common tin funnel. This was placed upon a 
small table. The two brothers, Ira and "William, sat 
on each side, Mr. X. reclined upon a couch and Mr. 
Ferguson and I sat fronting the brothers some six feet 
distant. The door had been locked, and the light 
was extinguished. 

Observe that here was no question of money, and 
no interest to deceive. The brothers, for their own 
sake, wished to ask about the riots, and to be advised 
respecting the course to be taken in an emergency. 
Dr. Ferguson had the same interest, while Mr. X. 
and myself were the only other persons present and 
either of us had any interest but curiosity. I, would 
observe, also, that I was thoroughly acquainted with 
the peculiarities of the voices of every person present. 
As a physiologist, and as an elocutionist and musician, 
I have studied the voice and its capabilities. I also 
understand ventriloquism, and can produce all its 
illusions. 

The light had not been extinguished twenty seconds 
when the tin funnel was heard to rattle on the table, 
and a voice, at first coarse and indistinct, came from 
it. Mr. Ferguson said that he was touched several 
times, both with the funnel and what appeared to be 
the hand^of some person, and two large soft finger ends, 
as they seemed to me, were pressed deliberately upon 
the back of my hand. 

Then commenced a conversation between the voice 
and Mr. Ferguson, and sometimes Ira. The voice was 
formed in the funnel, for its metallic ring could be 
distinguished, but it seemed to be formed not at the 
small end, but where it begins to broaden. The words 
were well formed and clearly articulated, but as if by 
organs somewhat thick and soft, a little like those of 
a fat person or a negro. Statements were made, 
questions answered, and advice given. I do not care 
to report the words. The persons interested, Mr. 



124 SPIRITUAL EXPEKIENCES. 

Ferguson and the two Davenports, were told that 
they would probably meet with more difficulties, but 
that they would be protected as they had been. 
^The voice was not that of any of the persons in 
the room. It was not the ventriloquial voice. Every 
voice has its own character. Every observing person, 
can distinguish an educated from an ignorant man, by 
the tones of the voice and modes of enunciation. 
Many shades of character are revealed by the speech. 
Many think the ear judges better than the eye. The 
blind are thought by some to be as well able to judge 
of character as those who see. For my own part I ean 
never form a satisfactory idea of a person until I have 
heard him. 

This voice, then, was that of no person I had ever 
seen. It was that of a plain, sensible, common man, 
rather below the middle class in culture, but earnest, 
and, if one could so pronounce from a voice, honest. 
If, the room being dark and the door unlocked, a 
stranger had entered and spoken in the same way, I 
should have considered him a plain, practical, earnest, 
well-meaning man, who might be a master mechanic, 
mariner, or man of business in any similar occupa- 
tions. 

I watched carefully not only every tone and 
inflection of this voice, but the place from which it 
seemed to come. It was not more than four feet from 
me, in front of Mr. Ferguson, and not above a yard 
from the floor. When the last word had been said, 
and a candle lighted, Mr. Ferguson sat still with his 
hands clasped together resting on his knees, and the 
funnel was seen placed over them. It is very certain 
that the funnel was brought from the table by some 
force and volition not belonging to either of them, and 
I am as certain as it is possible to be of any fact what- 
ever that the voice, distinctly heard in a conversation 
of ten or fifteen minutes' duration, was not that of 
any one of the only five persons present. 

On the first day of the New year, 1866, early 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 125 

m the morning, I, in company with the Daven- 
ports and Mr. Fay, arrived in Dublin. On leaving 
tl^e boat we went to an Inn on the quay to obtain 
some breakfast. We had not been long seated at 
the table before our spirit friends greeted our ar- 
rival with a shower of raps. We first sought Mr. 
Lauder who introduced us to Mr. I. Mc. Donnell. 
This gentleman I found knew but little of 
Spiritualism, but had been fighting the battle of 
mesmerism for^several years, and is an earnest and 
intelligent advocate of other unpopular subjects. 
With the assistance of these gentlemen we es- 
tablished ourselves at the Queen's Arms Hotel 
Sackville Street, and made arrangements for giv- 
ing a Seance there. For this purpose invitations 
were sent to the Press and several influential 
gentlemen, some of whom were connected with 
Trinity College. About forty attended. I com- 
menced by asking them to dismiss from their 
minds, as much as possible, all they had heard, 
through rumour or the press, about the Daven- 
ports and to form an opinion from their own ob- 
servation. I told them that on no subject that 
had come under my observation had there been a 
greater amount of falsehood and I was afraid 
wilful misrepresentation propagated by the press ; 
— not only were the Davenports abused and mis- 
represented, but the public had been grossly 
abused and imposed upon by it. I said we came 
before them to submit facts on which every one 
was capable of exercising his faculties and forming 
his own judgment — that we offered no theories, 
and called upon them to indulge in or accept no 
fancies, but simply to witness a number of facts 
which would be put before them without mystery 
or disguise. I remarked that the fact of the 



126 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

cabinet being broken to pieces at Liverpool and 
Huddersfield was a proof there were no mechanical 
appliances about it. I alluded to the contest that 
had been going on with the conjurors, who at 
first boasted they could do all the Davenports did, 
but when challenged, declined on the ground that 
they had not had so much practice as the 
Brothers, I assured them that theDavenports owed 
nothing to practice, for at the age of twelve they 
possessed their extraordinary powers in full ; and 
that had they chosen to come out in Europe as 
accomplished professors of legerdemain they 
would have carried the whole world with them 
and made a large fortune. I begged them to bear 
in mind that for twelve years before coming to 
Europe the Davenports had displayed their pheno- 
mena in every part of the United States, before 
the largest and most intelligent audiences. Judges, 
senators, the ablest and most practical lawyers, 
the acutest men of science, had seen them and 
examined their manifestations, and tested them by 
the most searching examination, and yet, neither 
in that country, in France nor England, had any- 
one been able to detect the slightest atom of fraud 
or delusion, and would never do so for the simple 
reason that it did not exist. I concluded my re- 
marks by alluding to the wonderful phenomenon 
of matter passing through matter as demonstrated 
in the coat experiment, and calling upon scientific 
men to investigate these facts as the most impor- 
tant we were acquainted with. 

My speech evidently had a good effect and in- 
creased the interest of my hearers, and one journal 
remarked of it that it was " free from the jargon of 
conjurers." The usual manifestations took place 
and were witnessed with astonishment and caused 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 127 

muoli speculation. A Mr. Trail, a man of note at 
Trinity College, entered the cabinet with the 
Brothers and on emerging from it exclaimed 
" That's grand by Jove." One of the Editors of 
the Irish Times also entered the cabinet and re- 
ported favourably of his experience. The Dark 
Seance followed and went off equally satisfactory. 
A profound impression was obviously made on the 
company which included two Rev. D. Ds., one of 
whom Rev. Dr. Tisdal offered his coat to be put 
on Mr Fay. This gentleman, considering his posi- 
tion, which was that of the most popular and 
fashionable clergyman in Dublin, acted a bold and 
manly part. He not only stood up for the facts, 
but proclaimed them far and wide, and wr<>te in 
the public papers in defence of the Davenports 
when their integrity was assailel. The next 
morning long and favourable notices appeared in 
all the papers and an excitement was created that 
for the time threw Fenianism into the shade. To 
convey an idea of the favourable impression pro- 
duced by the first Seance, I give some extracts 
from the articles that appeared. 
The " Freeman's Journal," after describing the 
phenomena witnessed, sums up thus — 

* It would be perhaps, wearisome to go further into detail 
— suffice it to say that we witnessed the strangest and most 
unaccountable performance that could be thought of next to 
the sacred miracles. The Messrs. Davenport could not 
certainly have had assistance in the cabinet from any human 
being whatever. It is nothing but a thin shell of wood 
placed upon three trestles, and all who wished could watch 
every outside part of it during the whole night. During the 
dark part of the performance Messrs. Fay and Davenport sat 
oh the same floor as the audience and within reach of almost 
a dozen of them. They certainly succeeded in astonishing 
all who had the pleasure of attending their soiree vesterday 

ovanlnn 



128 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

The " Irish Times" has the following sensible 
remarks to begin with — 

rt The Davenports, respecting whom so much has been 
written, have visited Dublin, and last evening held a seance 
in the Queen's Arms Hotel, upper Sackville Street. That 
they are possessed with mysterious power, bordering almost 
on the supernatural, would appear to be undoubted. The 
phenomena which they present astound the audience and 
defy all efforts at discovery. It is better to abstain from the 
expression of any decided opinion as to the agency employed 
in the manifestations, and simply relate what one has wit- 
nessed. Many opinions respecting them have been formed, 
and some of an adverse character urged with a degree of 
acerbity by the English press. Statements too have been 
made that their agency has been discovered, and that the 
manifestations produced were merely the efforts of successful 
conjurors. In that opinion few impartial persons can 
concur, and certainly, none who were present at the seance 
last evening. Mystery of the darkest description pervades 
the entire performance to such an extent that the sceptical 
were almost induced to abandon scepticism and join in the 
very extravagant and absurd opinion that the phenomena 
presented were the result of a supernatural agency. 

"Saunder's Newsletter and Daily Advertiser " 
says of the first Seance — 

" For three hours we were in an atmosphere so pervaded 
with mystery and wonder that long: ere the performance was 
over we had given up all hope of finding the key to anything 
we saw.'" 

The " Daily Express," equally bewildered, goes 
on to say — 

" Much has been said and published of the surprising feats 
performed by these young men — and however prepared those 
present might have been to witness all that the most extrava- 
gant fancy could imagine — and notwithstanding the scepti- 
cism of many was openly expressed, the proceedings last 
evening eclipsed the anticipations of the most sanguine, 
staggered the prejudices of those the last to admit of super- 
natural agency, and evoked from all the most unequivocal 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 129 

and decided marks of approbation. 

To account for these by ordinary laws of nature seems 
impossible ; that a supernatural agency should be invoked 
common sense forbade believing, and the audience while 
acknowledging the unaccountable nature of the means em- 
ployed, were content to express their astonishment and give 
the Brothers every credit for candour and extraordinary 
ability." 

It will be observed that, in all these articles, it 
was endeavoured to qualify the accounts by 
suggesting conjuring as an explanation. This 
was the error that the London Press fell into. 
Had the writers been content with simply report- 
ing facts and abstained from offering a theory to 
account for them, their subsequent difficulty in the 
matter would have been avoided ; but having 
offered a theory at the onset they vainly endea- 
voured to bolster it by misrepresentation and 
unfairness. As an example, a letter appeared in 
the " Star " stating that a Mr. Dempster at 
Eastbourne, had detected Mr. Fay's hand in the 
cabinet. I wrote a letter in explanation but its 
insertion was refused. I then called upon the 
Editor and remonstrated with him on his uniair 
eonduet, his reply was " We believe the Daven- 
ports to be impostors, for Tolmaque can do all 
they do, and vse have determined to publish every 
thing we can against them and to admit nothing 
in their favour." 

To render what I write more intelligible to 
such of my readers who have not witnessed the 
manifestations, I think it will be well to give a 
brief description of the Seances, and explain how 
they are conducted. Two gentlemen are first 
selected to act as a committee, their duties being 
to examine the cabinet and its properties, to tie 
the Brothers, to close the doors, to watch closely 

K 



130 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

the manifestations and to report to the audience 
from time to time what takes place. The method 
of binding and the extent of rope are left to the 
discretion of the committee. The usual plan 
adopted is to tie the wrists together behind the back ; 
the cords are then placed through holes in the 
seats and carried to the legs, round which they are 
passed above the ankles ; the legs are also tied 
above the knees, in such a way as to prevent any 
lateral motion. The instruments, consisting of a 
guitar, tambourine, violin, horn and bells, are then 
placed in the cabinet and the doois are closed ; 
all the bolts, which are simple slip-bolts, being 
inside, the last door that is closed can only be 
iastened from the inside, which is immediately 
done. The horn will then be thrown out at the 
hole in the centre door, and is frequently ejected 
while the door is being shut. After every mani- 
festation an examination of the fastenings is made, 
and in no instance is any alteration observable. 
It consequently follows that if the Davenports 
threw the horn out they must not only have 
untied themselves but tied themselves in the 
same manner, in the space of a few seconds. The 
bells will be rung at the window, and hands 
appear of different sizes ; long, naked arms are 
also protruded through it. The violin is tuned 
and played upon, the other instruments accom- 
panying it. During these proceedings the doors 
are frequently thrown open and generally in the 
midst cf the noise, when the Brothers are always 
found to be tied in the same manner as at first. 
At length they are released from their bonds. 
They again enter the cabinet with the ropes at 
their feet, and in about three minutes are dis- 
covered bound hand and fo< r in a very skilful and 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 131 

secure manner. The same kind of manifestations 
are then renewed, and one of the committee is 
'allowed to enter the cabinet and sit between the 
brothers, resting a hand on each, so as to detect 
any motion if there were any. While thus seated 
the committee man will be manipulated by hands, 
and the instruments carried about and played 
around him. As a final test flour is placed in 
each hand of the Davenports, and whilst holding 
it the instruments will be played, clean hands ex- 
hibited and the complicated fastenings removed, 
and no mark of the flour is ever seen. The 
Davenports then come out of the cabinet and 
empty their hands of the flour before the company. 
This last experiment ought to be conclusive to 
every impartial and unprejudiced mind, for a 
little reflection must enable anyone, capable of 
j udging of facts, to see the great improbability, 
not to say utter impossibility, of a person dressed 
in black cloth, being able to disengage himself 
from a series of knotted ligatures by his own 
agency without showing traces of. the flour on his 
clothes, which is never the case with the Daven- 
ports. It is one of those things which no amount 
of practice would enable a person to accomplish. ; 
as wdl might we expect an acrobat by practice to 
maintain himself on a rope insufEciently strong 
to support him. 

The dark Seance is conducted as follows. The 
company sit in chairs arranged in the form of a 
half circle, the ends of which join the wall so as to 
prevent any ingress. Those occupying the front 
seats are requested to join hands, which is a secur- 
ity against persons leaving their places during the 
intervals of darkness. A sm-ill table is placed within 
the semi-circle on which are placed two guitars, a 
k 2 



132 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

tambourine, and bells. Mr. Fay and Mr. Ira Da- 
venport sit on either side of the table. The light 
is then extinguished and a lashing of ropes is 
heard, also the guitars floating in the air. On the 
production of a light the mediums are found with 
their hands behind them securely bound. The 
light is again extinguished and the guitars are 
heard twanging and flying lite birds in every 
direction and with great rapidity. This experi- 
ment is repeated with the instruments illuminated 
with phosphorous, by the light of which their ca- 
reering in the air is clearly seen. To prove that 
the mediums do not move from their seats, paper 
is placed under their feet and their position mark- 
ed upon it. 

At the request of one of the company Mr. Fay's 
coat is taken from his back with the rapidity of 
thought, and a light being struck at the moment 
the coat may be frequently seen in its flight up- 
wards. On an examination being immediately 
made, Mr. Pay's wrists are found to be tightly 
bound to the back of the chair. A coat belong- 
ing to one of the company is then put on with the 
same marvellous rapidity as his own was taken off*. 
The ropes are then unbound, the guitars at the 
same time sounding in the air, and as a concluding 
and conclusive experiment, two of the company 
are requested to hold Mr. Fay, and whilst he is 
iield hand and foot the guitar is floated and played 
upon. 
Like the flour test at the termination of the cabinet 
Seance, this test of holding Mr. Fay puts the mat- 
ter beyond all doubt, for when a man is securely 
held he is disqualified from doing any act requir- 
ing the movement of his limbs. The rest depends 
upon the good faith of those who hold him and 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 133 

the precautions taken against the cooperation of a 
confederate, and I need not say that these matters 
are well looked to by sharp and shrewd investi- 
gators. 

It will be seen from the foregoing description 
of the two Seances that the principal use of the 
cabinet is to avoid placing the audience in dark- 
ness by providing the condition of darkness 
necessary for the production of the manifestations. 
Darkness, if not a condition absolutely necessary, 
is one that favours the phenomena. Why it 
is so has never been satisfactorily explained. For 
the first few years of their mediumship the Da- 
venports obtained their manifestations only in the 
dark Seance form, and it was, that the hands which 
were felt in the dark, might be seen in the light, 
that the cabinet was devised. It was at first a 
mere box with a hole in it, and its only use was, as 
I have intimated, to enable the spirits to show 
their hands. A Mr. Lewis, residing at Dublin, 
who knew the Davenports as boys at Buffalo, told 
me he was present the first night a cabinet exhi- 
bition took place. In a letter to the Irish Times he 
says " the statements of your correspondents are 
not borne out by my experience extending over 
a period of fifteen years. The Brothers Daven- 
port were then known to me as boys at school, 
yet more astounding demonstrations then occurred 
in their presence than those which have been wit- 
nessed in Dublin. At that time they were beneath 
the claim to praise now so lavishly heaped on 
them of u expert conjurors," for they were only 
children and exhibited their phenomena to please 
their friends and to satisfy and dissatisfy others, 
very much like the present time barring the 
charge at the doors." 



134 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

The Seances continued to be held in the Queen's 
Arms Hotel for about a week when, in consequence 
of a letter calling on us to give the public an op- 
portunity of witnessing the exhibition, we decided 
on removing to the Antient Concert Kooms. 
This new series of Seances was well attended and 
the people were well behaved and courteous. A 
lively controversy was kept up in the newspapers, 
and during the first fortnight it was no uncommon 
thing to see a dozen letters, for and against, in the 
Irish Times of a morning. Then there was a 
conjuror, Dr. Lynn ( his real name is Symonds) 
who had a cabinet and did the il rope trick " — 
this exposer of the " humbug of Spiritualism " 
took part in the discussion ; while a rival conjuror 
asserted that Dr. Lynn could not do what the 
Davenports did, neither could any other conjuror. 
A correspondent under the name of Medicus pub- 
lished a challenge but it was of such a preposterous 
nature that it was evident he knew nothing of the 
subject, and I replied to him to the effect that he 
had better make himself acquainted with the 
nature of the exhibition before sending challenges, 
and that we were not in Dublin either to give or ac- 
cept challenges but to exhibit facts. 

Thus matters went on very swimmingly for 
about a fortnight when a circumstance occurred of 
a most unexpected and inexplicable nature, which 
to this day I have never been able to account for, 
so far as the conduct of the principal actor is con- 
cerned. 

On one evening during the dark Seance just as 
Mr. Fay's coat was about to be removed, a match 
was struck but not ignited, which emitted sufficient 
light for objects, for the moment, to be clearly 
seen. I protested against the striking of a light 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 135 

as contrary to the conditions, begged it might not 
be repeated, and thought no more of the matter. 
Judge then of my surprise the next morning, when 
Mr. Lauder, in company with a Mr. Robinson 
came to us with very long faces and expressed a 
wish to speak to us in private. They said they 
had a very serious accusation to make, which was 
that Mr. Lauder had observed Ira Davenport out 
of his place when the light was struck the night 
before. I expressed my suprise and told him he 
must be mistaken, for I was sitting close behind 
and saw him sitting quietly in the chair. Nothing, 
he said, would convince him to the contrary, and 
it was proposed to test the Davenports then and 
there. The room was accordingly darkened and 
some musical instruments procured. I was re- 
quested to leave the room, which I protested 
against, alleging that as it was a test Seance, I ought 
to be allowed to witness fair play on the part of 
the Davenports; but they still persisted that I 
should leave the room. I told them I would take 
my position between them on the sofa and that 
they might hold me. No, they would not be satis- 
fied with anything that took place while I was 
in the room and almost in plain terms intimated 
that we were all swindlers and that I was the big- 
gest. I appealed to the Davenports as to how I 
should act ; they said I had better leave, and 
accordingly I did so. In about half-an-hour the 
Seance terminated, and I was then informed that 
no manifestations could be obtained. It was then 
arranged, contrary to my wish, to try again the 
next morning. In the course of the day Mr. Fay 
said to me " I don't like the idea of being hum- 
bugged about by that Lauder, let us go and hear 
what John says," and forthwith I and Fay started 



136 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

off to the Antient Concert Rooms and got into the 
cabinet. The doors were hardly closed when the 
horn was heard in motion and Kate's shrill voice 
speaking through it. " We have come to talk to 
you about this affair with Lauder," Fay said. 
Oh, John must come and talk to you about that. 
The next minute John's voice was heard saluting 
us like any mortal visitor. I said, " How was it 
you did not give any manifestations this morning 
— weren't you present, or weren't the conditions 
right ? " That wa&'nt it : they insulted you, 
Cooper ', thatfs why we would not give any manifestations. 
You have arranged to go to them to morrow , but donH 
do so. Write to Lauder and tell him that the Brothers 
are under a contract with you, and tell him that in con- 
sequence of the manner in which he acted towards you 
this morning j you will not allow the proposed Seance to 
take place : but don't tell him I told you. 

Mr Lauder had threatened to publish his ac- 
cusation in the newspapers, which, with the subse- 
quent failure of the Seance, I considered might be 
very damaging to the Davenports and the cause I 
sought to promote, inasmuch as his letter would 
only too readily be copied by the English press, 
whilst any statements I might make by way of 
explanation would receive no notice whatever, j 
was therefore anxious, if possible, to prevent him 
adopting the course he threatened, and endeavoured 
to conciliate him by proposing a test Seance, to 
take place before a number of qualified gentlemen 
whose testimony would have weight with the pub- 
lic ; the advice of John therefore took me by sur- 
prise. It seemed like taking the bull by the 
horns and defying Mr. Lauder to do his worst. I 
wrote the letter in accordance with the instructions 
of " John," and in due course appeared a letter 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 137 

from Mr. Lauder making the charge against Ira 
Davenport, and also a letter of a half-apologetic 
character from Mr. Robinson regretting that he 
had ever been favourably disposed towards the 
Davenports. Both these gentlemen were in a 
very awkward position ; — Mr. Lauder for having 
been instrumental in getting the Davenports to 
Dublin, and, when there, doing all he could to es- 
tablish them in public favour ; and Mr. Kobin- 
son for having a few days before written a letter 
to the Irish Times fully endorsing the genuineness 
of the manifestations. In this letter he says, 
11 During the dark Seance the motion of the musi- 
cal instruments through the air is most astonish- 
ing. This could not be accomplished either by 
strings, wires or any other mechanical contrivance, 
and I may mention that while witnessing this part 
of the exhibition in London, some person suddenly 
lighted a wax-match, hoping to discover the trick, 
but instead of making any discovery the Messrs. 
Davenport and Fay were seen tightly bound in 
their chairs, and the musical instruments were 
falling to the ground/' 

u Viewing all these matters, I have come to the 
conclusion that the phenomena are of a most ex- 
traordinary character, that they cannot be pro- 
duced by any mechanical or physical means, and 
consequently that the Davenports possess a power 
which we do not understand." 

Six days after writing this, Mr. Robinson ex- 
presses his opinion that " All their performances 
are merely the result of long and acquired practice, 
aided by their own conditions and darkness " and 
concludes by saying " I rather regret having, on 
a former occasion, expressed a somewhat differ- 
ent opinion, the result of my first crude observa- 



138 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

tions ; but had I not acted as I did, I could not 
have had the opportunity of so thoroughly investi- 
gating the matter, and so fully exposing their delu- 
sion to the public ". 

Mr. Lauder in his letter says " Should the 
Davenports attempt to continue their exhibition, 
and represent their sleight-of-hand tricks as the 
result of occult or preternatural agency, they can 
be always detected in their dark Seance by having 
a darkened lantern in readiness which can be 
rapidly flashed — a match being too slow for these 
expert operators. " 

But alas ; for Mr. Lauder, his positive assurance 
that the Davenports " could always be detected " 
by the employment of a dark lantern was proved 
to be a fallacy, and by Mr. Robinson, who not 
satisfied with seeing a match struck in London, 
sent his son with a lantern, and in the course 
of the Seance flashed the light on the mediums, 
who were discovered seated quietly in their chairs 
and " the instruments falling to the ground." 

In reply to Messrs. Lauder and Robinson I 
wrote a letter which is too long for reproduction 
here. In it I commented on the inconsistent con- 
duct of these gentlemen and said it was an ex- 
emplification of the saying "Save me from my 
friends," and asked " Is it reasonable to suppose 
that nobody among the hundred persons present 
have seen the delinquent but Mr. Lauder ? " and, 
by way of addenda, I published the following 
letters from five gentlemen all well known in Dublin 
and esteemed for their worth and honour. The 
first is the Rev. Dr. Tisdal of whom I have al- 
ready spoken. Mr. Armstrong is a Solicitor. 
Mr. Farrall a veterinary surgeon. Mr. Fitzgerald 
a Magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant, and Mr. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 139 

Lewis a lithographer. Such testimony ought to 
settle the matter for ever. I may add that I have 
been present, at least a score of times, when a 
light has been struck, but nothing was discovered 
except perhaps the folly of those who forfeit- 
ed their honour in attempting to find out the 
secret. 

On the evening of last monday, the 15th, I was present at 
one of the dark Seances given by the Messrs. Davenport. A 
light was suddenly struck by one of the audience. I saw 
Mr, Ira Davenport and Mr. Fay seated as before the darkness 
was produced, and remarked to the gentleman who accom- 
panied me to witness the results, and sat next me, with his 
hand in mine, that the unexpected production of the light 
had, at all events afforded no discernable evidence that Mr. 
Davenport and Mr. Fay moved from their seats. My impres- 
sion then was, and is still, that the striking of the light was 
an instance of complete failure in the effort to detect motion 
upon the part of Messrs. Davenport and Fay. The coat of 
the latter was on before the light was extinguished, and when 
the match was struck the coat was off, and visibly descending 
upon the floor. 

To the proof of the foregoing statement I can bear testi- 
mony. 

C. E. TlSDALL. 

January 18, 1866. 



When, at Monday evening's seance, the light was suddenly, 
and as I said at the time, unfairly struck by one of the au- 
dience, insamuch as it was contrary to the condition of the 
seance, Mr. Davenport and Mr. Fay were sitting tied in their 
chairs. 1 watched closely, and they did not appear to have 
moved. My friend and 1 were sitting within a few yards of 
Mr. Fay. 

The sudden production of the light seems to me to have 
totally failed in detecting any movement on the part of either 
of those gentlemen, as the iriend sitting next me, in whose 
hand mine was at the time, remarked, there was no evidence 
whatever of either xVIr. Fay or Mr. Davenport having stirred 
from their places. 

John Armstrong. 

45, Lower Dominick-street, Jan. 18, 1866. 



140 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

To Messrs Davenport and Fay. 

Dublin, 18th January. 1866. 

Gentlemen, — Seeing letters in the " Irish Times " of this 
morning referring to your seance of Monday night last, the 
15th inst., and stating that when a match had been ignited, 
that Mr. Davenport was seen away some distance from the 
chair on which he had been previously seated. In justice to 
you, I wish to observe that I, with some other friends who 
were seated in the front row, and within a few feet of those 
who were manifesting the usual phenomena, saw not the least 
movement in the case of those who were then performing, 
'Tis quite true a match was ignited, and, insufficient as the 
light was, it afforded those sitting in front the full opportunity 
of observing that those parties manifesting the phenomena 
were seen in the same position as that in which they had been 
previous to the light being turned off. — I am, gentlemen 
your obedient servant, J. J. Farrall. 

Out of evil comes good, and the result of this 
Irish expose, which, as I anticipated, was publish- 
ed in the English papers without my reply, was to 
strengthen the favourable impression that had 
been produced, and, the interest excited, to 
give addtiional publicity to the subject. As the 
spirits afterwards remarked to me in reference to 
the exposure in America of a counterfeit medium 
— a young girl who was detected in having secret- 
ed things about her person, that even an affair of 
that kind did good, because it drew public atten- 
tion to the subject , — anything, they said, that 
caused the subject to be agitated, whether favour 
able or unfavourable, benefited Spiritualism " be- 
cause it was true." Although one Seance is for the 
most part a counterpart of another still incidents 
frequently occur to vary the proceedings and give 
additional interest. Sometimes these incidents 
are of an amusing character. I will mention a 
few that happened in Dublin. 

At one of our early Seances we experienced great 



SPIRITUAL EXPKIENCES. 141 

annoyance from an Englishman, who kept calling 
out " humbug," and words of a similar meaning, 
He at length impugned the honour of the com- 
mittee, who were military officers. Asking my 
permission, they got down from the platform, and 
took the offender by the collar, and walked him 
out of the room, to the great satisfaction of the 
audience. 

On another occasion, in consequence of a guitar 
resting twice on the lap of a gentleman occupying 
a seat in the front row, some remarks were made 
by a person behind, implying confederacy. This 
roused the blood of the Irishman, who forthwith 
began by saying, " Do you know who I am? I am 
the editor of," &c. and insisted upon the accuser ex- 
changing seats with him. 

By the adoption of the balloting system, we 
were on the whole, fortunate in obtaining good 
and fair committee men. On one occasion, how- 
ever, we had a person, named Simington, a pho- 
tographer (our principal opponents have been 
photographers,) who adopted the Hulley and 
Cummins tactics He operated on William Da- 
venport, who very soon began to complain of the 
brutality of the tying. I asked if there was a 
medical man present who would examine the 
cords. Immediately an old gentleman stepped on 
the platform, and at once began by assuring the 
audience that he was in no way prejudiced. He 
examined the wrists, and said he could get his fin- 
ger in. I then began to fear trouble. William 
Davenport still complained of the pain, and had 
yet to undergo the process of having his legs 
bound. I advised him to bear the pain if possible, 
knowing, that if I could but g^t the doors closed, 
he would soon be released. This was at length 



142 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

accompli shed, and the efforts were at once directed 
to liberating the medium, which took about ten 
minutes, during which time but few manifestations 
took place. Mr. S — urged this against us. On 
the Brothers being re-tied, Mr. S — said they were 
not tied with a knot, but with a twist. To satisfy 
him that such was not the case we had the ropes un- 
tied and he acknowledged he was wrong. Finding 
himself defeated on all points he stood sulkily in 
a corner of the platform, and would neither retire 
nor take further part in the proceedings. This 
affair^ was within an ace of being a repetition of the 
Leeds affair, The doctor who felt the wrists evi- 
dently put his finger into the rope that encircled 
both wrists. It resulted in triumph to the Daven- 
ports, and the feeling was strong against Mr. Sitn- 
ington and his partizans. 

On one occasion a gentleman entered the cab- 
inet without invitation from the Brothers. He 
pulled the doors to and then began to show his 
hand at the window, and afterwards grinned 
through it at the audience. He very soon begged 
to be let out, and came forth looking very pale 
and woe-begone, hoiding his hand to his head, 
having received some severe blows. His scep- 
ticism appeared to have been put to flight by the 
striking evidence he had received that there is 
something in creation besides matter. The next 
evening one of the committee entered the cabinet 
in the usual manner. He very soon began to beg 
to be let out. He complained of beiug struck on 
the head. I told him he was the first I knew of 
who had complained of rough treatment. I told 
him also that he was the first I had seen wear a 
hat in the cabinet, which might have had some- 
thing to do with it. There had evidently been 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 143 

an attempt to bonnet the gentleman as it is vul- 
garly called. 

Sometimes when persons enter the cabinet and 
sit with the Brothers strange freaks will be prac- 
tised 01 them. Their neckerchief will be taken 
off, the breast pin removed and stuck into the coat 
behind, and if spectacles happen to be worn they 
will be transferred to the face of one of the Da- 
venports. When Mr. Coleman entered the cab- 
inet in London, his handkerchief was taken from 
his pocket and tied over his head. I have, at 
different times, seen at least three hundred persons 
enter the cabinet, all of whom certified there was 
no movement on the part of the Brothers. 

While at Dublin we had occasional visits from 
the spirits in private. Sometimes while seated at 
dinner with the mediums. I would observe a gentle 
tapping on my knee which was followed by a grasp 
as of a large powerful hand taking hold of my 
limb, and often too vigorous to be agreeable. The 
Davenports would also have the same kind of ex- 
perience, and sometimes they would be constrained 
to remonstrate with the spirits on account of their 
ro igh treatment, arid in one or two instances|ieft the 
ta Ae to avoid it. Raps would be heard and sometimes 
loud reports as if the table were struck with a 
hammer. In addition to feeling haads underneath 
the tab'e, t >ey .might occasionally be seen protrud- 
ing under the clot;), and on two or three occasions, 
in answer to Mr. Fay's question " Can you lift 
the table John ? " the table was raised in the air 
with all the dinner things on it. All this took 
place in the 1 ght and nobody present but our- 
selves. The table, I may observe, was a square 
dining table about four feet square, of considerable 
weight. Once during these unsought and unlobk- 



144 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

ed for manifestations my bread lying beside my 
place suddenly sprung into the air. This is 
about the extent of my experiences with the Da- 
venports in tne light, but I had others in the dark 
which I shall allude to in due course. 

I frequently made suggestions to the spirits 
with a view to vary and improve the Seances and 
to render the experiments more conclusive, but I 
found them for the most part opposed to anything 
in the shape of innovation. They would however 
give their reasons for not adopting my suggestions 
and I generally found there was wisdom in their 
conclusions. Once in reply to a suggestion to do 
something still more extraordinary they said 
"People can't believe what they see new — There was a man 
last night frightened and left the room, JS T o, we can't 
make any alterations — at any rate at present. It de- 
pends more upon the state of the mind of those who see 
these things than what we do ; some men can't believe 
their own senses" However, they acquiesced in one 
of my suggestions. I said " you make so much 
drumming noise when you play the instruments 
that the violin can scarcely be heard. I think if 
you were to play a slow tune and not make so 
much noise with the other instruments it would 
have a good effect." This hint was taken and at 
night a tune was played differing in style to any 
thing I had heard before, and the time was soft- 
ly beat on the tambourine. This tune I have 
since ascertained to be " Washington's March 
over the Delaware," and it has been played at 
every subsequent Seance. During the time we were 
in Ireland there was a great variety in the tunes 
played, sometimes Irish and Scotch melodies, and 
once " Yankee Doodle " was played, the speed in- 
creasing at every repetition until the tune was 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 145 

hardly distinguishable. 

After exhibiting for three weeks in Dublin we 
left that city and visited Cork. Just as the railway 
enters this town there is a tunnel. Whilst pass- 
ing through it I felt something tapping me on 
the head. I then heard a voice which was rendered 
indistinct by the noise of the carriages, and I con- 
sequently took no notice of it till Ira Davenport said 
" Cooper, there's Kate calling you." The voice 
then spoke loud enough to be heard above the 
rattle of the train, which was now going at a slow 
rate. It said, You must be careful tvhat you say in 
this place — they are queer people here — say nothing 
about Spiritualism. Be firm — you are not firm enough ; 
donH give into them. 

I then said " shall I put it upon a scientific 
basis ?" 

Put it on no basis at all — let the facts speak for 
themselves ; the less that's said the better. 

I told Kate her wishes should be complied with, 
and the next minute we were at the station. It 
will not be worth while to enter into the particulars 
of the Seances at Cork. We remained there a 
week, during which time the exhibition was wit- 
nessed by most of the principal inhabitants. Every- 
thing passed off satisfactorily, and a profound 
impression was obviously made. In this town I ob- 
served less scepticism than in any, before or subse- 
quently, visited. After visiting Limerick and 
Waterford (where a gentleman called and desired 
the Davenports for his satisfaction to take a " Bible 
oath " that they were passive agents) we returned 
to Dublin, intending to exhibit at the Rotunda, 
and then, either to visit other towns in Ireland, 
or to go to Scotland. On the Day we arrived 
at Dublin, Fay said to me " John wants to speak 

L 



146 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

to you, he came to me after I got to bed last night." 
In accordance therefore with the expressed wish 
of " John " we went to a bedroom, and darkened 
it by nailing a rug before the windows, a matter 
of no little difficulty. When this was nearly done 
Kate said, There, that will do — that's dark enough. 
We then took our seats in a corner of the room, 
having extemporised a horn by rolling a piece of 
music into a cone and tying it with string. This 
was laid on the bed. John's husky voice was 
soon heard speaking through it, and proceeded 
to tell me what to say to the audience at night. 
He then said, Cooper, I want you to go to Russia 
with the Brothers ; you have done a good work in 
this country, but it is no use stopping any longer — get 
on to Scotland as fast as yon can and then go straight 
away to Russia, The voice ceased and the paper 
horn was thrown across the room. 

I have frequently noticed that " John" is very 
short and concise in his conversation, and by no 
means disponed to be communicative. He rarely 
condescends to talk upon subjects that have no 
connection with his mission, and always speaks 
at once to the point, his utterances indicating great 
earnestness of purpose. He is what might be 
called a man of few words. Kate once said, You 
will he surprised when you see John what a great 
man he is; he possesses wonderful will power. He 
always has an answer ready, but sometimes 
hesitates to find the right word in conversation. 
At times he is witty and I have even known him 
make a joke. Ira and I got into the cabinet one 
day after the Seance was over, when Ira said " You 
gave me a precious rap on the head just now." 
John's ready answer was, It wasn't me, it was the 
trumpet. Kate, too, attempts to be witty at times. 



SPIEITUAL EXPEDIENCES 147 

She was asked (I was not present at the time), 
whether she and John ever quarrelled, to which she 
replied, yes, we are married you know. Unlike 
John, Kate will talk any length of time, as long 
in fact as she can find anything to talk about, even 
if it be the most frivolous nonsense ; but I must do 
her the justice to say that she talks sensibly 
enough at times, and I have heard great wisdom 
in her utterances, and satisfactory answers given 
to profound philosophical questions. 

On our return to Dublin a letter appeared in 
the Irish Times calling on those, who had boasted 
so much of their ability to discover the secret, to 
make good their assertions, saying it was evident 
the Davenports did not shirk investigation. This 
put some of these knowing ones on their mettle, 
and desperate attempts were in consequence made 
to fathom the mystery by striking lights, putting 
black on the hands of the mediums unknown to 
them, and other cunning devices, but all to no 
purpose ; notwithstanding all these attempts to 
"find out the trick," they were just as far off as 
ever. The man who had charge of the hall told 
me that numbers of persons had been to him to ask 
if he could throw any light on the matter, which 
he confessed he was unable to do, but told them 
they might examine the cabinet. As a last re- 
source Dr. Lynn, the conjuror, came to the rescue, 
and announced a lecture in which he undertook to 
expose Spiritualism thoroughly. This, of course, 
like all conjurors' tricks was a mere device for getting 
money. The result of this lecture I do not know, 
for my career in Dublin was unexpectedly brought 
to a close some two or three days earlier than it 
was intended, the particulars respecting which I 
will proceed to state. 

L 2 



148 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

I have already spoken of establishing a paper 
in the interest of Spiritualism. This was published 
at the Spiritual Lyceum, London ; and both the 
institution and paper were under the management 
of Mr. Powell. Just before I left London Mr. 
Sothern, the actor, addressed a letter to the Glas- 
gow Citizen in reply to a statement in the 
Spiritual Magazine, to the effect that Mr. Sothern 
was formerly a member of a spiritual society in 
America, known as the Miracle Circle, and that 
Mr. Sothern acted as medium. Mr. Sothern in his 
letter admitted the existence of the " Circle " and 
his connection with it, but denied the spiritual 
origin of the manifestations that were produced, 
and stated that he had systematically hoaxed the 
public for two years for his amusement, and 
concluded by stigmatising " every Spiritualist as 
either an impostor or idiot, and every Spiritualist 
exhibitor who made money by his exhibition as a 
swindler ;" and asserted his ability to " do all 
that they can do and more." In reply to which, I 
addressed a letter to the Glasgow Citizen, the sub- 
stance of which was that as Mr. Sothern had 
asserted that "he had done and could do all the 
Davenports did and more," if he would satisfac- 
torily explain the modus operandi by which the 
Davenport manifestations were produced, I would 
give one hundred guineas to the Dramatic College. 
Mr. Sothern took no notice of the letter. This is 
all I had personally to do with Mr Sothern. 

The Sothern letter reached America and 
attracted the attention of Col. Du Solle, Editor of 
the New York Sunday Times, who was acquainted 
with the whole proceedings and knew Mr. 
Sothern very well. He wrote an article on the 
subject in his paper and mentioned facts that 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 149 

did not reflect favourably on Mr. Sothern's private 
character. The paper containing Col. Du Solle's 
article was brought to the Spiritual Lyceum by 
an American gentleman, and Mr. Powell incau- 
tiously gave it insertion in the Spiritual Times, 
Of the whole matter I was entirely ignorant, and 
almost the first I heard of it was on reading in 
the Irish Times a report of the proceedings at 
the Police Court in London, and that a warrant 
had been issued for my apprehension to answer a 
charge of libel. The same evening at the con- 
clusion of the dark Seance a policeman took me 
in charge and conveyed me to a police station 
preparatory to taking me to London the next 
morning. I wrote the following account, at the 
time, of my experience under the title of 

Three Nights in the Police Cell. 

I am about to give, or rather attempt to give, a simple 
account of my premature and unexpected return from 
Dublin, and my incarceration in the police cell ; and 
had I the practised hand of the writer of " A Night 
in a Workhouse," my experience might be as inter- 
esting to the public as that world-known narrative. 
Lacking this ability, a narrative of the following facts 
will doubtless be read with interest by my friends, 
independent of any sympathy they may have for the 
principal actor in the three nights' drama. The hero 
of the Casual Ward was an amateur. My sufferings, 
though not like his, self-imposed, were equally un- 
merited : — 

At the instance of Mr. Sothern I was arrested by a 
police officer at the conclusion of a Davenport Seance, 
at the Dublin Rotunda — fortunately the last but one 
in Dublin. I proceeded with the officer to the hotel 
to collect my luggage, where I took some tea. I was 
next conveyed in a cab to a Police Station. This was 
about eleven o'clock at night. Here I was conducted 



150 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

into a white-washed room, on the side of which were 
doors with little grated openings. These I afterwards 
discovered to be cells, in which offenders are temporarily 
confined. There was a fire in the room, at each side of 
which were forms, on which sat two or three policemen. 
The first object that arrested my attention on entering 
this place was a woman's face at the barred opening of 
one of the cells. This face was of an ashy paleness, and 
made grimaces, and uttered very hideous noises. In 
a little time the utterances became articulated, and an 
appeal to be let out for warmth was clearly heard, and 
persistively repeated. At first the appeal was met by 
a threat to exclude the light if she did not leave off ; 
but after the application became more moderate, she 
was promised a five minutes' warmth at the fire. The 
bolts were drawn, the door opened, and out came a 
fine young woman, very dirtily dressed, who at once 
proceeded to take off her shoes and stockings, and dry 
them by the fire. After sitting a few minutes she was 
told she had been there long enough, and was again 
locked in the cell, when after a few remonstrances and 
complaints she became quiet. In the room were two 
benches, on one of which lay a poor miserable object, 
in the form of a man, to whom I shall presently refer. 
It was intimated that I could lie down on the other. 
I did so, making use of my portmanteau for a pillow. 
T had not been reclining long, when the Brothers 
Davenport called in to take another farewell. Al- 
lusion was made to their incarceration in Oswego Gaol, 
and they gave an account of the opening of the prison 
doors by the spirits. This naturally excited the 
attention of the big policemen (they were all over six 
feet, and appeared to be selected for their size, like the 
body guard of Frederick the Great), and I need not 
say they looked very incredulous. The Davenports 
also said that their prison was a much worse place, 
that they had to suspend their bed by ropes from the 
ceiling to keep clear of vermin. The Brothers also 
spoke of the kindness of friends, the number of visits 
they received, the quantity of good things they had 
brought them, that altogether, they somewhat regretted 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 151 

when the term of imprisonment had expired. This 
visit ended, I lay down again, and got into a doze, 
when a fresh arrival disturbed my partial slumbers. 
It was a woman, or what was called a woman, in a 
dreadful state of intoxication. She wanted to go to 
the fire. Her wish was opposed, and she made an 
effort to go there by force, which was resisted by the 
great policemen, who, without any parleying, each 
taking hold of an arm, dragged her to the cell, and 
closed the door against her, as she vainly essayed to 
force her way out as it was being closed. Then began 
a storm of human rage such as I had never heard 
before, and could not have conceived possible. The 
iron door was frantically struck by the closed fists of 
the desperate wretch in her vain effort. A continuous 
howl, a mixture of rage and despair, through which 
an occasional articulate word could be heard, was kept 
up. Presently the wild howling relapsed into articu- 
late cursing. She swore by ail the saints in heaven 
and devils in hell. For five minutes, at least, her 
objurgations were made in the name of the Holy 
Ghost. "Let me out to warm myself. Give me 
a ha'porth of fire. My mother never brought me up 

to be a . If a woman comes here with fine 

clothes, you do not treat her so. If it was not for such 
as me, you would not have such a good coat on your 
back." Such were the kind of utterances she gave 
forth, as soon as her rage allowed her to speak, to all 
of which the policemen were perfectly indifferent. 
They took but little notice of her, except to say now 
and then as they paced the room, " You shall have a 
ha'porth of fire when you are quiet." They said but 
little, knowing from experience that anything they 
could say would not avail in arresting the torrent of mad 
passions, but would only stimulate it. At one time 
she was threatened with having the little barred win- 
dow closed up, so as to render the cell dark. This 
threat succeeded for a time in quelling the frantic 
noise, but a fresh outbreak caused the threat to be 
put in force, and increased for a time the wretch's 
sries and curses. I feel sure that had they allowed the 



152 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

poor creature to sit a short time by the fire* when she 
first came in, this dreadful scene would have been 
avoided. In process of time the noise ceased, and 
once more asking for a "ha'porth of fire," she was 
allowed to come out and warm herself. And then 
was brought in a poor old woman. What her offence 
was did not transpire. Probably she was homeless. 
She was conducted to a cell without uttering a word 
or murmur. There were some more arrivals not 
calling for special notice. 

About four o'clock, as I lay on my bench, I found 
the man who occupied the other bench had arisen and 
was seated by the fire adjusting his rags, one of the 
women looking through the bars volunteering to 
render him assistance with a needle. I looked up and 
saw he was a close-cropped, bullet-headed vagrant, 
who, from his appearance, had not long been out of 
prison. He was called by the policeman " Paddy," 
and judging from the conversation, appeared to be a 
" character/' and " well known to the police ; " one of 
those waifs and strays of society, whose life is passed 
between the gaol, the workhouse, and the public- 
house. He was seated among his custodians telling 
them tales ; and as soon as he had finished one, was 
asked to "give us another tale, Paddy.'' I arose 
and was addressed by Paddy as "Doctor," and was 
asked my advice for his swelled throat. 

At half-past five my policeman, in plain clothes, 
made his appearance, and announced that it was time to 
start. I had no other preparation to make than to put on 
my hat and take up my portmanteau, and was at his 
disposal ; I thanked the police for the night's lodging 
they had afforded me, bade them " Good Morning, ,, 
and was taken in a cab to the railway station, and 
thence to the steam boat at Kingston. The morning 
was cold, the wind was biting, and the sea rough. 
During the passage my custodian came to me in my 
prostrate condition and charitably administered a 
little brandy. He was a good-natured, simple-minded 
man, and behaved very well to me ; and I understand 
he reported that I had behaved very well to him. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 153 

We were conveyed per Holyhead to London, nearly 
300 miles in six hours, and arrived at our destination 
(the Police-station, in John Street, Edgeware Eoad), 
about seven. Here my name and address and offence 
were entered in a book, and I was conducted to a cell 
similar to those I had seen in Dublin. There were 
three of these cells in a row, with a passage along the 
front, the middle one of the three being allotted to me. 
It was a place about eight feet long by six feet broad, 
built of brick, with a saw-dust covered floor. It was 
fitted with a broad seat running along the back and 
one side, ending in a water-closet. This was the only 
furniture it contained. In the centre of the door was 
a little opening covered by a perforated piece of metal 
arranged to slide up and clown. A gas light from the 
passage shone through the holes of this window, by 
the light of which I was enabled to read ; but to do 
so I had to shift the paper, so as to cause the light to 
run along the lines. This reading under difficulties 
was at length removed by the inspector ordering the 
slide to be let down. About ten I lay down for the 
night on my hard bed, but it was not long before I 
was disturbed by the unlocking of doors, and the 
flashing of a bull's-eye lantern, and by the inquiry if 
all was right, to which I had to answer. This process 
was gone through every hour of the night, and would 
be anything but pleasant to a sound sleeper. There 
were two or three fresh arrivals during the night, 
which were attended by some noise, but nothing like 
I had experienced in Dublin. I was assured that I 
had been greatly favoured, as it was the quietest 
Saturday night they had had for a long while. I dreaded 
more than anything having another prisoner put in 
my cell. Early in the morning I heard a man's voice 
and a boy's in the cell on my right, and a considerable 
moaning on my left. About eight o'clock I was in- 
formed that I could have what I liked brought from a 
neighbouring coffee-house, but nothing stronger than 
tea, and I ordered my breakfast accordingly. My 
neighbours were also asked whether they wanted any 
breakfast. Had they any money ? The man said he 



154 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

had fourpence, and ordered provisions to the full 
amount. He was advised not to spend all at once as 
it was a long time till to-morrow morning. He de- 
cided, after some deliberation, on spending only 
threepence. The boy said he had also fourpence, and 
would like a cup of coffee and four slices of bread and 
butter. The policeman was astonished at such a large 
supply being wanted for so small a boy. The boy, 
however, said he would spend his fourpence all at 
once. u Well, growing boys do want as much to eat 
as men," was the answer ; but the growing boy got 
nothing more till the next day. He asked for a little 
* baccer,' and was told that birch would be more suita- 
ble for him. 

In the course of the day I managed to ascertain 
that my neighbours on my right were a man and two 
boys. The man was in for begging and the boys for 
exhibiting white mice. Their conversation showed 
them to be professional beggars. In the other cell 
were three women whose offence was drunkenness. All 
the first part of this Sunday (it was a glorious Sunday 
as I could see by a stream of sunlight that shot across 
the passage, and once actually found its way into my 
cell), I heard but little of my female neighbours ; they 
had not recovered from their last night's debauch — an 
occasional yawn was all I heard of them. They were 
asked if they wanted anything to eat. They said they 
had no money, and were consequently without food 
till the next morning, when they were provided with 
some. One of the police was a pious character ; he 
administered a little advice to the prisoners, reminding 
them where the broad road led to, and expressed his 
sorrow that they still persisted in walking in it. He 
was evidently a member of some little Zion, and 
judging from his familiarity with Scripture, and the 
readiness with which he met every argument with a 
text, I have no doubt he occasionally officiated as 
preacher to the congregation of which he was a mem- 
ber. We got into conversation about Spiritualism, 
but everything I advanced was met with a text. 
However, I succeeded in interesting him, and he was 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 155 

anxious for further information. I also spoke to one 
of the inspectors on the subject. 

At noon Mr. W. came to consult and console. His 
visit was like the gleam of sunlight that had before 
entered my cell. 

In the afternoon the females, having revived, began 
to talk among themselves, and at length opened up a 
conversation with the prisoners on the other side of 
me. Presently I was saluted with the familiar sound 
of raps on my wall, and was asked what I was in for ? 
As I had but a dim idea of it, I could not give them 
much information. The "jolly beggars'' now began 
singing, and in this way passed an hour or so merrily. 
The man was evidently a jovial companion, who could 
entertain his pot-house friends with a song when 
called upon. His favourite song was u The Low- 
Back'd Car/' The boys also sang, and were well-up 
in the popular songs of the day. " Good-bye Sweet- 
heart " and " Here we are again" (not an inappro- 
priate one) were the style of songs they delighted in ; 
and when they were tired of singing, or had exhausted 
their repertoire, would whistle the " Mabel Waltz," 
and other popular melodies. One of the boys had an 
excellent idea of music, and with proper attention 
would make a good musician. I must do my com- 
panions in distress the justice to say, that I never 
heard anything immoral while I had the pleasure of 
their society. 

In the midst of the singing the policeman enters and 
all is quiet. He opens the cell and enquires if all is 
right, and finds " all serene.'' He looks in upon me 
and then goes to the next cell, saying, "Now, then, 
ladies, is there anything I can do for you 1 " A 
conversation ensues ; policeman retires, and I am 
again saluted by raps, and am asked a question I can- 
not, in consequence of the Scotch brogue of the 
speaker, catch. My neighbour, the " jolly beggar,' ' 
answers. " I do not mean you, I mean the geutleman 
in the next cell." The Scotch voice proceeded to 
inform me that she had ascertained what I was in for. 

She was entered "drunk and disorderly,'' and I 



156 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

was in for " a bad libel/' She asked me if she made 
much noise when she came in. I said I heard a great 
noise in the night. 

Have you been often here % I asked. 

Yes a good many times. 

I wonder you don't take warning from this. 

T can't help it. They treated me to some whiskey, 
and my old man takes no account of me. 

Does your husband know where you are ? 

No, and would'nt care if he did. 

What punishment do you expect to get ? 

That depends on who the Magistrate is. Mr. Yard- 
ley lets us off with seven days. The others give us a 
month. 

Do they give you anything to do ? 

Yes, pick oakum. 

Well, I think you pay dearly for a little pleasure. 
I advise you not to do it again. 

T am afraid I shall though. 

She now began to question me. 

Where did they take you ? 

In Dublin. 

Is that where you live ? 

No. I have not been home for two months. 

Have you a wife ? 

No ; but I have five children. 

Poor things, I hope they are taken care of. 

They have to take care of themselves at present. 

Do they know you are here ? 

I don't think they do. 

This colloquy, which helped to beguile the time, is 
sufficient to show that, degraded as the poor creature 
was, there were gleams of goodness in her nature. * 

She asked if I had a newspaper? and if there was 
any particular news in it. I looked to see if there 
were any murders, robberies, or suicides, and finding 
nothing very striking in that department, told her 
there was no news of importance. I thought it would 
be of no use telling her that the Habeas Corpus was 
about to be suspended. 

The remainder of the day was spent in reading, and 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 157 

reflecting, and writing with a pencil a short lecture 
which I now find difficult to decipher. 

The night came, and the prisoners began to come in. 
I dreaded every fresh arrival, lest one should be put 
in my cell. Fortunately this did not occur. ; In the 
morning the beggars grumbled among themselves 
about lying on each other. Not being able to adjust 
themselves, they saluted the early morn with the 
songs they had sung the day before. At length the 
wished for hour of ten arrived. The prisoners were taken 
from their cells to the courtyard, when they went 
through the process of standing in a row, and 
answering to their names. I was left in my cell. My 
female friend, as she passed along the passage, looked 
at my window, and gave a smile of friendly recog- 
nition, and I saw by that glance, that sunken as this 
poor creature was. the " woman " was still there. 

I thanked the police for their kindness to me, was 
conducted in a cab to the Police Court, and soon found 
myself in the presence of the great and impartial ad- 
ministrator of justice, the magnate of the Police 
Court. I there heard, for the first time, and rather to 
my astonishment, what a bad character I was, what a 
dreadful crime I had committed, that the libel was 
concocted by me in my office, and that I was captured 
in the theatre in Dublin. I was committed for trial 
at the Old Bailey for an offence I knew nothing of till 
I read, in an Irish paper, that a warrant was granted 
for my arrest. 

I was at liberty again, and in the streets of London ; 
but my mind was bewildered and as befogged as the 
black air I breathed. One street seemed as another to 
me ; all seemed alike. In the evening I heard Emma 
Hardinge. She discoursed most eloquently on " Mys- 
tery/' a fit subject, for everything seemed a mystery 
to me, even the kindness and consideration of so many 
friends. Miss Hardinge was said to excel herself 
on that occasion. Of that I know not ; I only know 
she excelled everybody else I had ever heard. I 
would fain have addressed a few words to the meeting, 
in return for their expression of kindness and sym- 



158 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

pathy, but could not do so ; — my head was in a maze. 
I could not collect my thoughts, and was compelled to 
let my silence be the expression of my overburdened 
heart. 



After these experiences in the Police cell, I hoped 
to be treated by the free press of England at least 
as an innocent man until I was proved guilty. 
The magistrate, Mr. Knox — before whom I was 
placed, gave me some rough knocks, entirely pre- 
judging my case. The " Daily Telegraph," assu- 
ming its own immaculate purity, in a leader 
introduced this choice sentence : — 

"The proper punishment is that the offender 
should be hauled to the bar with a policeman's 
hand on his collar. Other and more serious 
penalties may have to be inflicted afterwards, but 
the first thing to do is to stamp and brand the 
libeller, to fix upon him the stigma of disgrace." 

I wrote an explanatory letter couched in res- 
pectful language to the " Daily Telegraph," but 
of course the letter did not appear. And yet, the 
" Daily Telegraph " is a liberal journal ! 

The Davenports then went to Belfast and thence 
to Edinburgh and Glasgow, where they w r ere 
very successful, especially in the former of the 
two places. Mr. M'Donnell, of whom I have 
spoken, acted as my substitute at Belfast. On 
his return to Dublin, Mr. Lauder said to him, 
" Well, did you findout the rogues ?" " Yes, and 
the fools too," was the reply ! 

Mr. Sothern and the Davenports were at Glas- 
gow at the same time, when a letter in one of the 
local papers called his attention to my challenge. 
He, however, thought " discretion to be the better 
part of valour," and took no notice of it. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 159 

The Davenports then came to London, when 
there was of course more said in the papers about 
the "irrepressible Davenports." They exhibited 
at the Hanover Square Booms for a week under 
my superintendence, but the audiences not being 
sufficiently good to justify their remaining in 
London, it was determined to consult John, with 
reference to the future, who tendered his counsel 
in the following conversation — 
Well j Cooper, glad to see you again— you left us in 
a hurry. 

"Yes," I replied, "It was an unpleasant 
affair." 

Never mind, John went on to say, you are a 
martyr, every good cause has its martyrs. 

Mr. Powell, who was present, then remarked 
that he was the proper person to be put in prison. 

Then you are a martyr by proxy, was John's 
reply, who then went on to say, You have come to 
a queer place now. Thinking he might mean the 
cellar we were ia, to which we had come on 
account of its darkness, I said, " What place do 
you mean?" Why, London, — you can do no good 
here now; you may as icell try to resuscitate a 
corpse, go right away to some new place. It's too 
late for Russia now — Brussells is too near Paris — 
my advice is to go to Berlin ; there you will create as 
great an excitement as when you first came here — lose 
no time, go at once. Thanking John for his advice 
we bade him ' adieu.' 

About this time a paragraph went the round of 
the papers to the effect that the Davenports had 
renounced their spiritual pretensions and now ex- 
hibited as conjurors^ "professors of a peculiar 
species of legerdemain." This statement purport- 
ed to be made on the authority of the "Scotsman," 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 160 

but that paper simply said that persons need have 
no scruples now about witnessing the exhibition 
as nothing was said about Spiritualism. A para- 
graph appearing of the same tenor in the 
" Athenaeum," I wrote the following letter to that 
journal, which the Editor had the honour and 
fairness to insert. 

The Davenport Brothers. — In justice to Mr. Howitt 
and his "fellow worshippers/' allow me to say, in 
reference to the paragraph on the Davenport Brothers, 
which appeared in your journal of the 31st. of March, 
that there is no truth in the statement that they have 
avowed themselves to be conjurors. The Brothers 
and Mr. Fay, in the most full and explicit manner, 
deny that they have ever admitted themselves to be 
conjurors ; and they still affirm that the manifestations 
which take place in their presence are neither pro- 
duced by themselves nor by confederates. Mr. Fay 
has already contradicted the statement which appeared 
to his prejudice a short time since in most of the 
newspapers ; but few of them however, had the sense 
of justice to give his letter publicity. 

I am sorry to add that other journals did not 
act so honourably in the matter, refusing to 
admit an explanatory statement, even as an ad- 
vertisement. Among these was the " Times;" 
this could hardly have been expected of that journal, 
since it once asked for Spiritualism, " a full, free 
and impartial inquiry ; an exposure of the sham if 
it be one ; and a recognition of the truth, if truth 
be in it." How true are its own words " How 
often must a great truth come forth to light, and 
be received and overborne, and lapse into obscurity 
before it achieves general acceptation !" 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 161 



CHAPTER XIII 
Dr. J. B. Ferguson. 

In making a brief sketch of the career of the 
Davenports in Europe I must not lose sight of 
Dr. Ferguson who enacted an important part in 
the little drama that excited for the time the at- 
tention of the world, and to whose tact and good 
management its success was much indebted. It 
may be well therefore to state here a few particu- 
lars respecting him. 

Dr. J. B. Ferguson was until recently the pas- 
tor of a large congregation in Nashville, Tennesse, 
of which the present President of the United 
States was a member. Here his ministry was so 
successful that a larger building became necessary 
to hold his increasing audiences, and accordingly 
a new and handsome church capable of accommo- 
dating 5000 persons was erected and placed at his 
disposal. In a work entitled " Supramundane 
Facts in the life of J. B. Ferguson," published in 
England during his residence here, it will be seen 
that for many years he has been acquainted with 
the facts of Spiritualism ; and he was not the man 
to preach doctrines he did not believe in, or to with- 
hold truths he considered desirable to be known. 

M 



162 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

His nature was far too honorable, bold, and con- 
scientious for this. Accordingly when his convic- 
tions became matured by a lengthened study and 
an extended experience, he did not hesitate to 
proclaim them ; which, as might be expected, 
proved distasteful to the majority of his hearers. 
Dissatisfaction was expressed, an open rupture 
followed, and in the end the pastor resigned his 
position and voluntarily gave up his right to the 
church which had been built expressly for his 
use. His subsequent connection with the Daven- 
ports may be best stated in his own words. 

" On the night of the 26th of April, 1864, in com- 
pany with a friend, I attended the exhibition of the 
Brothers Davenport at the Cooper Institute, New 
York. On the night succeeding, in company with five 
of my friends from the Southern States, I attended 
another exhibition at the same place. I had been for 
years familiar with phenomena and experiences of a 
similar character to those represented as attending the 
Brothers ; and from the knowledge of this fact, my 
Southern friends were anxious that I should accom- 
pany them. 

" Of the Davenports themselves personally, or as 
representatives of the ' wonders ' associated with their 
names, I knew nothing. Of course I had often seen 
their names in public prints, but my attention to what 
was said either in their favour or to their disparage- 
ment had never been sufficiently attracted to secure 
any conviction respecting them. Accordingly, on my 
way to their proposed entertainment, in reply to a 
question of my friends, I remember to have stated 
that, if the Davenports were not jugglers or deceivers, 
and, were really instruments through which man's 
allied nature to the invisible or spiritual world was 
reflected, we should receive evidence such as no candid 
man could refuse to accept. I also expressed a hope 
that one of my friends, who was a sceptic in the sad- 
dest sense, would receive the tangible proof of what 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 163 

he had heard me assert and defend for fifteen years. 

61 When we came to the place of meeting — the large 
lecture-room of the Cooper Institute, the largest in 
New York city — we found some thousands assembled. 
The entertainment — for such it may properly be called 
— opened, and a committee was chosen to secure the 
young men in the cabinet and report to the audience 
what occurred. I need not describe the manifestations, 
or their effect on the audience, as the New York 
papers gave graphic reports at the time, and have in- 
dulged in tiresome repetitions since. It is enough to 
say that I was convinced that the Davenports were 
nojugglers,and that the displays of power through them 
admitted of no explanation according to any known 
estimate of natural laws. I called upon the Daven- 
ports in private, and attended their public entertain- 
ments for eleven days and nights. My sceptical friend 
after the closest scrutiny, admitted that there was no 
clandestine mechanism or arrangement of machinery, 
and no si eight -of-hand in what he had so doubtingly 
and thoroughly examined. He is a man of the first 
eminence at home and abroad in discovery, and in the 
application of discovery in the most intricate and diffi- 
cult mechanics, and in mechanical skill has few equals. 

u When the Davenports appeared at Brooklyn, near 
New York, it happened that their representative 
before the public was absent ; and they, through 
their friends, invited me to introduce them to the pub- 
lic of the city of Brooklyn. In that city, at 
the time, I was solicited to meet the representatives 
of a highly respectable religious society, with a view 
to becoming their pastor. 1, however, consented to 
introduce the Davenports in ,J the City of Churches." 
I did this in a spirit of candid enquiry and experi- 
ment respecting a subject which I hoped might prove 
of interest. 1 did so knowing that, however desira- 
ble it might be that I should become the pastor of the 
church above-mentioned, my action in this matter 
would put an end to all hope of such pastoral charge 
being entrusted to me. I did so because I was fully 
convinced that the phenomena which occurred in the 

M 2 



164 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 

presence of the Brothers was a part of the supra-mun- 
dane evidence given to this age — evidence not to be 
measured by the conventional restrictions of time and 
men, however respectable the time or however reli- 
gious the men. 

" When I saw and knew, for myself and not by 
another, that the evidences given through the Daven- 
ports were true, I accepted a proposition to accompany 
them to Englaud and Europe — if, after three or four 
months' experience with them before the public, I 
should find the work such as I could perform without 
detriment to them or to myself. Accordingly, I spent 
three months in the interior towns and cities of New 
York State and New England, and a month in the 
chief cities of Canada. During this time they were 
brought before every class of the communities they 
visited ; every conceivable form of fastening and other 
methods of 'test* and trial were submitted to— such 
as being held by the hands and feet while the mani- 
festations of force were witnessed, the use of sealing- 
wax, and many other devices — and always with 
complete and undeniable success. Indeed, it were 
impossible for me by any use of language too strongly 
to state this fact. 

u During this time I resided with them at the 
same hotels, and we often occupied the same suite of 
apartments. I travelled with them, in the unavoidable 
intimacy of travelling companionship, over thousands 
of miles of the wide-spread territory referred to, and 
consequently must have had every opportunity of 
detecting fraud, if fraud there were to be detected. 
But it becomes me to say that I never detected any, 
nor the appearance of any. When they were, to all 
appearance, sound asleep, some of the most marked 
of the manifestations have occurred. In travelling by 
rail, when entering a dark tunnel, I have, to a mental 
wish, received them in tangible and unmistakeable 
forms ; and this experience has been repeated in 
England. For example, upon our arrival at Liver- 
pool, when we had taken our seati for London, 
immediately upon leaving the former city, amid 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 165 

expressions indicative of the natural anxiety of young 
Americans in their first observations and experiences 
as strangers in a strange land, on entering the tunnel 
near Liverpool, one of our party, I think Mr. Fay, 
said, u I wonder if John came with us over the sea V 
The question was instantly answered thus : — I was 
grasped by a strong hand, and so was each one of the 
company. At the same time that I was thus grasped, 
my face and hands were gently felt by seemingly 
human hands . I confess the evidence was so palpa- 
ble and satisfactory as to distinctness of touch, 
responding to my wishes, that I feared some one of 
our party was the operator. I pleasantly charged 
them with it, when each solemnly protested he was the 
recipient of similar evidences, and had not moved, 
nor even desired to do so. I then desired mentally 
that I should be met by an evidence of such a charac- 
ter that it would admit of neither doubt nor denial. 
As we entered another tunnel I changed my position 
in the railroad carriage, so that no one of my party 
could touch me without my knowledge. In response 
to a mental wish I was touched, my face manipulated, 
and my person distinctly handled, when I knew 
positively that no one visible was near me. Of the 
satisfaction given by such an evidence I need not 
speak : no words can do it justice. I state the fact, 
and leave it to the appreciation of all who have the 
desire for similar evidences. I could give many other 
instances of force guided by invisible intelligence. 
On extinguishing the light in my room, I have had my 
chair instantly lifted and placed upon my head, with 
the legs upward, and the cushion resting on the top 
of my head. A voice — not mine, not that of anyone 
present — has directed me to feel the position of those 
present. I did so, while the chair held itself, or was 
held, firmly where it was placed. In distinct vocal 
tones I was invited to be seated, the chair being at 
the same time taken from my head and placed 
properly, that I might comply with the invitation. 

a I might record a volume of such and similar 
manifestations. But with respect to all these evi- 



166 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

dences,expressions,or demonstrations from the invisible 
world, I have one remark to make ; I wish it to sink 
deep into the minds of my readers. These are not 
given in response to mere curiosity, idle wish or sel- 
fish desire. They have come when and where they 
were needed, and where there was a degree of good 
faith in the individual to use the evidence for univer- 
sal good. The rule with me is, that whenever and 
wherever the mind is ready for an ascent in actual pro- 
gress, evidences are given that transcend all our 
existing standards ef tiuth and good. 

" For six months I have travelled with the Daven- 
ports, and in various conditions, advantageous and 
disadvantageous, I have witnessed the evidences of the 
power that attends them. I have seen them subjected 
to every form of scrutiny that scepticism could devise. 
I have seen their professed friends, with anxiety, 
caused by a bigoted and sensuous denial, return to the 
Davenports with fresh doubts, to be met and reassured 
by evidences that admitted of no denial. I can truth- 
fully say that no time, place, or condition of the most 
diverse and promiscuous audiences, or the most select 
companies, has ever prevented the manifestations, 
though they have been rendered less satisfactory in 
various ways. The anxiety caused the Brothers by 
aimless discussion, captious criticism, and obstinate 
denial is a very unfavourable condition. I have seen 
them associated with persons who only wished to make 
gain of their gifts, and whose methods of presenting 
them to the public were calculated only to produce 
distrust, and to place the evidences of the power 
attending them on a level with ordinary jugglery. 
I have seen these persons confounded, most unexpec- 
tedly to themselves, by the evidences of truth, wisdom, 
and power attending the manifestations. Through 
the most painstaking ordeals, the severest scrutiny, 
the most searching analysis these evidences have 
passed. They have ever come forth more clear, more 
satisfactory and convincing to all honest enquiry." 

When the Davenports went to France Dr. Fer- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 167 

guson accompanied them, but finding he could 
be but of little use to them in consequence of his 
inability to speak the French language, he left 
them and returned to London. During the short 
time he remained in that city he interested him- 
self to promote the cause that lay uppermost 
at heart and to which he had devoted his life ; and 
rendered it essential service in many ways. His 
commanding oratory had a magical effect on those 
who heard his eloquent expositions of Spiritualism 
in public, and his logical and affable manner in 
private won over many to his views. However 
humble the individual who sought information and 
advice at his hands he received the same attention 
and was treated with as much courtesy as the 
high-born, intellectual inquirer. Amid all the 
abuse that was heaped upon him and the offen- 
sive epithets that were applied to him, I never 
heard a harsh word escape his lips ; his feeling 
seemedto be only that of pity for his calumniators. 
To sum up his character in a few words, he is a 
giant in intellect, a child in simplicity and an angel 
in goodness , and one of Nature's noblemen. I look 
back with pleasure to the time I spent in his 
society, indebted as I am, to him for the high and 
ennobling views of the work, and its ultimate issues, 
it has been my privilege to engage in. The fol- 
lowing letter by Dr. Ferguson shews his too partial 
appreciation of my humble services in the cause of 
the truth we mutually recognised. 

London,— 28th March. 1865. 
My Friend, my Brother, 

Your kind letter and its timely suggestions 
are before me. At present it is not practicable for me 
to appoint a time to visit Brighton. My relationship 
to the phenomena attending the Davenports does not 
allow me to make any arrangement for other perhaps 



168 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

equally important duties, and privileges the know- 
ledge of these evidences mutually awakens in minds 
alive to the cause of truth or right. But rest assured, 
dear sir, that I heartily appreciate your desire and 
the noble generosity of your intention respecting ex- 
pences. If able at any future time to designate a 
night for a lecture at Brighton I will readily do so ; but 
I think, in common justice, it ought to pay all expenses 
and not throw an additional burthen on one already 
devoting all to the good of humanity. Nor can I 
write this sentence without adding, that amid the 
many seeming embarrassments attending the advocacy 
of the great principle we mutually recognise ; the ig- 
norance, prejudice, selfish distrust we are compelled 
to meet in the gross and materialistic tendencies of the 
age, my mind turns to you and your exalted virtues 
and faithful labour, with a confidence and hope no 
language can express. Let one man bear his un- 
bought testimony to your spirit in the work upon 
which you have so unselfishly entered. Its reward is 
not yet, nor here. It is known and recognised above 
the besetting currents of human feelings and express- 
ions. No man in this realm, that it has been my 
privilege to meet, is doing more, or as much as you 
for a good that no time can measure or destroy. I 
shall carry its memory with me wherever it may be 
my privilege to speak or act for our common humanity. 
Disappointment may come in many directions to 
which your hope is turned ; but your work will re- 
main and its great and signal benefits return to your 
own soul in the garnering hive of more auspicious 
times. Humanity is one and nothing done for good 
is ever lost. Eeceive my soul's best blessing and my 
heartiest fellowship ; for this I have ever felt towards 
thee and thine. Remember me to every member of 
your household. The spirit of love breathes over each 
and all, and holds its vigil for their unfolding natures 
in a trust not lost in death nor wasted on the desert 
path which mortals are treading. 

With every sentiment of respect, thine 

J. B. FERGUSON. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 169 

The proposed lecture to "Brighton did not take 
place. I was just making arrangements for the 
delivery of two lectures in that town and in 
others by Dr. Ferguson, when amessage from the 
spirit-world despatched him summarily to America 
to intercede in behalf of Jefferson Davis. 

As a specimen of Dr. Ferguson's oratory I give 
the extract from his last public address made on 
an occasion of a testimonial being presented to 
him: — 

A few months since I found myself, by a series of 
unexpected events, in your midst. It was my first 
visit to the mother country, but it was not my good 
fortune to make many and cherished acquaintances 
until during the visit now about to terminate. My 
connection with the Brothers Davenport and Mr. Fay 
is known to all before me, and doubtless to most of 
those who shall read these my last words to the 
British public. During that association, and the duties 
and responsibilities it involved, my heart has at times 
been pained by the untoward misjudgment we were 
called to meet : but more frequently has it been com- 
forted, since, in a somewhat eventful life, I have 
learned that no truth is ever recognised by large 
classes of men save as it is seen to pass successfully 
through the furnace of passional conflict, Thus the 
lower, ever in the assertion of its existence and power 
strives, though it strives in vain, to bear down the 
higher; while, in the end, truth must ascend above all 
irrational opposition and justice prevail. Therefore, 
1 have no fears for truth — none ! Let that truth come 
from where or how it may, — whether from the earth 
on which we tread, the elements we breathe, or the 
heavens from which descend light and love. Spiritual 
evidences I know must yet take their place in all 
practical, and especially in all truthful and religious 
minds. Mediums of every grade will do their work, 
and gradually the new era comes, when the great 
thought that spirit pervades and must control all 



170 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

forms of matter and all events of human destiny, will 
be recognised and acknowleged. As, therefore, I take 
my leave of you, I desire to say that it is the living 
consciousness of this truth that enables me to see in 
every man I meet a brother, inheriting with me a 
common nature, however diversified in its unfolding, 
and destined to meet and share a common destiny. 
This is no more true of you, my honoured friends, 
than of the teeming millions that make up the pale of 
humanity at large. The scavenger in the streets, the 
minister in the pulpit, the lord on his manor, the 
queen on her throne, and the labourers in your vast 
mines and extensive factories — nay, the very prosti- 
tutes of the midnight hour, of whom man is ashamed 
beneath the mid-day glare — the criminals in your 
prisons or on your scaffolds, are all equally dear, a3 
they go forward to make up that family whose Father 
is One, whose destiny is the same. In the sight of 
High Heaven, I have learned to call and feel no man 
common or unclean. The Gospel which I bring you 
is for all, and its banner is held up by angel-hands 
over the so-called doomed and damned, above the 
gates of death, and its inscription, in lettering that all 
shall read, is — Hope to all. Consequently, with the 
knowledge of this relation of man to man and man to 
God, I can no longer be a mere Nationalist or Sectist ; 
I can be but a man, and do the work that Heaven has 
assigned me, in the short time that T may dwell 
among the conflicts of earthly diversity. And I hope 
I shall not be less active or intelligent in any other 
world that may open before me. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 171 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Davenports in Germany. 

I have already alluded incidentally to some of 
the most prominent inventions and discoveries 
that have marked the last half century. A little 
reflection will serve to shew their importance as 
auxiliaries to the Davenport mission. From 
seven months' experience of the working of the 
exhibition I feel confident in asserting that it 
would have been impracticable to have 
given these spiritual evidences to the world 
with any degree of success, but for the develop- 
ments of modern science — the steam engine, the 
newspaper press and gas. The facilities afforded 
by railways and steam-boats enable the 
Davenports to travel all lands — a matter of 
primary importance. Before coming to England 
they had travelled over the United States and 
Canada ; and since their arrival in this country 
they have travelled several thousands of miles, 
carrying with them their mysterious cabinet and 
their battered instruments, with which they create 
more sensation than the band of a Costa. Their arri- 
val in a new country is made known by the press and 



172 SPIBITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

the facts are disseminated far and wide by its in- 
strumentality ; and on visiting the provinces they 
have only to issue a notice a day or two before- 
hand and an audience is sure to be awaiting 
them. For the cabinet Seance, which can be 
witnessed by large numbers, a nice adjustment of 
light is required, and gas is indispensable on 
account of the facility with which it can be regu- 
lated. Thus we have an illustration how one 
step in the way of progress paves the way for 
another, one interest subserving the other — all 
tending, like the different parts of a machine to 
produce, by their united action, some grand and 
specific result. 

Acting on the advice of our faithful friend 
John, the Davenports Mr. Fay and myself set 
out for Berlin, and forty-eight hours voyaging 
on a stormy sea to Hamburg, and eight hours' 
rail from that city brought us to the capital of 
Prussia on the 28th. April, 1866. Not being 
acquainted with the German language we 
engaged a Mr. Wohlgemuth, a Frenchman by 
birth and an exhibition agent by profession, to 
act as our business manager and conductor of 
the Seances, but unfortunately his acquaintance 
with "Deutch" was so slight as to render it 
necessary to read what he had to say. This, 
was of course a great disadvantage, and we were 
therefore obliged to let the facts speak for them- 
selves. 

On our arrival at Berlin, we took up our quar- 
ters at an hotel near the Bailway station, until 
arrangements were made respecting the Seances. 
A difficulty soon presented itself which was 
altogether unforseen and unexpected. On en- 
quiring for a public hall we found there was 



SPIBITUAL EXPERIENCES. 175 

nothing of the kind in the town ; all the large 
rooms being in connection with Hotels, and 
these could only be had at intervals. After 
spending about a week in futile attempts to over- 
come the difficulty, and at times almost despair- 
ing of doing so, we at length obtained permission 
from the king for the use of the private concert 
hall in conection with the royal Schauspielhausses, 
the Drury Lane of Berlin. This building is a large 
and imposing structure, situated in a fine open 
space between two churches, and is under the 
immediate control of royalty. 

The night of our arrival in Berlin, William 
Davenport occupied a bed in the same room as 
myself. Soon after we were in bed, raps were 
heard on the floor, by means of which, it was sig- 
nalled that the spirits wished to speak with us the 
following night. We accordingly assembled in 
the passage adjoining our bed-room as being the 
darkest place we could find ; and soon had the 
satisfaction of hearing John's voice congratula- 
ting us on our safe arrival in Berlin. I jocularly 
remarked to John that he had an advantage over 
us - that he had no railway fare to pay. riis re- 
joinder was Yes, Tve got no carcass to carry about — 
I get on letter without it. My old bones are lying in 
the grave and so will yours be some day. He then 
proceeded to give the Davenports some advice. 
Brush your hair, curl your moustaches, Black your 
boots and you will do well here if the war does not in- 
terfere. DonH go into the low restaurants. 

This last remark was in reference to the Daven- 
ports having gone, on their arrival, into one 
of the underground bars that abound in Berlin, 
for some refreshments. We spoke with him 
again a few days after and he expressed himself 



174 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

pleased at our success in getting the use of the 
ting's private concert hall. 

The first Seance took place before a company of 
about sixty, assembled by invitation, composed of 
members of the press, and other influential gen- 
tlemen. Having been assured that English was 
well understood in Berlin by the educated classes, 
I prepared a speech for the opening night, but on 
being told that not one in a dozen would under- 
stand a word of it, it became a debateable point 
whether I should deliver it or not. Ultimately, 
acting on my own judgment, I decided on doing 
so, "With the courtesy characteristic of the Ger- 
man people I was listened to very patiently 
throughout, and although I was not understood 
at the time by the majority of my hearers, there 
was a great desire to know what I had said from 
the few who did understand me. It operated, 
therefore, in the way I anticipated, and my object 
was gained. My address was to the following 
effect : — 

I commenced by assuring them that the mani- 
festations, depended in no degree^ on trick sleight- 
of-hand, machinery or confederacy, the truth of 
which had been proved by the most persevering 
enquiries and examinations of the most able men 
through the course of many years. I told them 
how, that the ruder portion of the population of 
both France and England, excited by their ina- 
bility to detect the means by which the phenom- 
ena are produced, had occasionally lost patience, 
and in England had more than once resorted to 
violent measures. Twice they had rushed for- 
ward, and destroyed the cabinet, actually tearing 
it to pieces to discover secret springs, but they 
had discovered nothing, for the best of all possible 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 175 

reasons — there was nothing to discorer. I said I 
felt quite sure that a people like the Germans, 
who possess the highest reputation for the depth 
and accuracy of their scientific enquiries, would 
give to these phenomena that calm and philoso- 
phic attention which they deserved; and whilst 
entertaining our own private views of the origin 
of these phenomena we desired to put forward no 
heorybut permitted the spectators of them to 
draw their own conclusions ; that they were bona 
fide facts was all we cared to establish. 

In conclusion I alluded to the coat experiment, 
which demonstrated the wonderful fact, that 
under the agency productive of these manifesta- 
tions, matter does and can pass through matter 
without leaving a traee of its passage, and com- 
mended its consideration to the attention of 
scientific men as one of great interest and impor- 
tance. 

The room in which the exhibition took place 
was fitted with a stage like a theatre and the first 
manifestation that took place was the horn being 
thrown into the orchestra ; this was followed by 
one of the bells being propelled with such force 
as to go among the audience without any regard 
for their heads. Upon this, several gentlemen 
mounted the stage and examined the fastenings, 
which they reported to be secure. Surprise and 
bewilderment were expressed on the faces of all 
present. A well known gentleman (the proprietor 
of KrolPs gardens ) entered the cabinet, and, 
on coming out , asserted that the Brothers had 
not moved in the slightest degree, which increased 
the mystery ; and when a long naked female arm 
appeared at the cabinet window, causing a sudden 
exclamation from a lady, a look of terror seemed 



176 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

for the moment to pervade the countenances of the 
spectators. It was amusing to see the numbers, 
not only on the first night but on the succeeding 
nights, who examined minutely the machinery at 
the wing for working the gas lights supposing it 
it to be the mechanism by which the wonders of 
the cabinet were produced. 

The Dark Seance followed, which strengthened 
the impression produced by the cabinet Seance, 
and a good deal of speculation was the result ; but 
although there was an indisposition to admit a 
supernatural agency, every one evidently felt that 
he had seen something that could not be accounted 
for on any known principle of natural law — some- 
thing more than was dreamed of in his philsophy. 
Herr Ganz, Chapel master to the King, gave it 
as his opinion that the Davenports could not have 
played all the instruments even if they had been 
untied. A favourable impression had obviously been 
made, and in due time long and excellent notices 
of the Seances appeared in the various Journals 
( seventeen in number ) and this too, at a time 
when they were filled with news relating to the 
approaching war, almost to the exclusion of every 
other subject. This was considered a great point, 
for what the Berlin critics endorse passes current 
throughout Germany. A prosperous career there- 
fore seemed before the Davenports, and they 
look forward not only to re-establish their prestige, 
but to recover the losses they had sustained in 
England and France, for contrary to general be- 
lief they had not been successful in a pecuniary 
point of view since they left America. On their 
first arrival in England, it is true, a considerable 
sum was realised by the exhibition, but the Daven- 
ports did not get the benefit of it. In Ireland, 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 177 

owing to the poverty of the country, they barely 
paid their expences ; in Edinburgh only, was there 
an exception to the general unremunerative charac- 
ter of the Seances since the ruptures at Liverpool 
and Huddersfield. But the expectations raised by 
the preliminary success at Berlin were doomed to 
remain unrealised. On the first night of opening 
to the public there was but a small audience, 
and on the succeeding nights still less, and so on. 
This was attributed at first to the prices, which, 
though less than half that had been charged in 
London and Paris were said to be higher than 
the Berliners were accustomed to, and they were 
accordingly lowered to the Berlin standard but even 
then the public did not attend in force, and we at 
length discovered that the war was the all-absorb- 
ing subject that engrossed the attention of the peo- 
ple. A consultation with the spirits therefore 
took place, when I said. " Well John, we are 
not getting on much." No, he replied, it is the 
war that keeps the people from coming— -they can 
think of nothing else ; besides it has driven all the 
best people away from the town. You do not under- 
stand the language of the country and therefore are 
not able to judge to what an extent the excitement pre- 
vails. You fixed the prices too high at first when the 
interest was at its height. But you have done right 
in lowering them — they are not used to such high 
prices here. 

I then said with reference to the war " Do you 
think it will come to fighting ?" 

Yes, there is no doubt of it, but it won't last long : 
things are in such a complicated state in this country, 
that eaeh party is almost afraid to move, but it will 
come to war nevertheless, it's gone too far to be prevented. 

It did not require a knowledge of German or a 



178 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

ghost to come from the grave to tell U9 that the ex- 
pected war was the great business of the day — the 
one theme that predominated over every other ; 
this was visible in the military aspect of the town 
and was seen written in the countenance of its in- 
habitants ; still we could not have supposed it 
would have operated so detrimenaly to our interests 
as was the case. It was some satisfaction however, 
to find that we were not alone in this respect ; 
every place of public amusement was deserted , 
Indeed, a feeling of jealousy existed among the 
various entreprenneurs, that we were patronised to 
the extent we were. 

During my stay in Berlin I looked into the 
theatres occasionally, and it was no uncommon 
thing to see more people on the stage than in the 
house. But although we were better patronised 
than our neighbours, the Seances could only be 
carried on at a loss, and we frequently resorted to 
the spirits for advice under the circumstances ; and 
they too, sometimes manifested theirdesire to com- 
municate with us, and on one occasion said we did 
not consult them often enough. I have frequently 
noticed that the Davenports acted as though they 
were conferring a favour on the spirits by listen- 
ing to what they had to say ; at any rate they never 
seemed inclined to put themselves to any incon- 
venience for the purpose. One night we had just 
returned from the Schauspielhaus when I noticed 
that the table tilted : this I took to be an intima- 
tion that the spirits wanted to communicate. I 
proceeded at once to the adjoining room, and, find- 
ing it to be tolerably dark, returned and requested 
Fay to accompany me. On our going into the 
room again, Fay proceeded to get a chair for 
himself, and, while he was doing so, one was 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 179 

"brought for me by the spirit. Being seated, a voice 
commenced talking, urging me not to discontinue 
the Seances. It continued speaking with us for 
at least ten minutes, and telling us not to be dis- 
couraged, bade us 'good night/ adding God Mess you. 
During the entire conversation every word was 
clearly articulated. The voice was that of a female, 
entirely unknown to me, and even the accent was 
unfamiliar to me : and were I not assured to the 
contrary, I might have supposed a woman had been 
standing by my side talking to me, so natural and 
real were the whole circumstances. 

A few days after an incident occurred ot an 
amusing character. One morning happening to be 
at the Schauspielhaus with Fay, I proposed that 
we should get into the cabinet and have a a talk 
with John." (this is the usual phrase of the Da- 
venports.) Fay assented and entered the cabinet, 
taking his seat on one side ; I followed and sat 
opposite him, at the same time pulling the centre 
door to. I then reached my hand to the bolt to 
fasten the door, and to my surprise felt a hand 
anticipating me in the act. The horn was im- 
mediately in motion and Kate's well known voice 
was heard speaking through it. She had not 
said half-a-dozen sentences when voices and foot- 
steps were heard at the other end of the hall, and 
we soon found them making for the stage. The 
curtains of the room were all drawn and the 
place was in a state of semi-darkness. We soon 
discovered the party to consist of the man in charge 
of the theatre and two gentlemen, whose object 
was to make a private examination of the cabinet. 
As they were coming on the stage Kate said Sit 
still, they won't Be long. The next minute they were 
banging the cabinet all round with their fists, and 

n 2 



180 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

they then attempted to get it open ; failing in this, 
there was an increase in the jabbering. In the 
midst of this Kate tapped me on the knee and said in 
a whisper Sit quiet. Finding they could not get 
the doors open, one of them put his arm in the win- 
dow and tried to reach the bolt, but in this he did 
not succeed. A great talking continued and renewed 
efforts were made to get the cabinet open, and, as 
force seemed likely to be resorted to, Fay, acting 
impulsively, drew the bolt and the door flew open. 
Our besiegers drew back, startled and overcome 
with surprise, for they had not the least idea of 
anyone being in the cabinet. No explanation be- 
ing given they doubtless considered that we were 
concealed in the cabinet for private practice. I 
afterwards asked Fay whether he bolted the door 
when we got into the cabinet. " No " he said, 
" I left tnatfor you to do." 

In Berlin, as in other places, the conjurors 
were on the qui vive, and sought to profit by the 
reputation of the Davenports. There was one at the 
Eappo Theatre who proposed as usual to do more 
than they did. He attracted the public by means 
of sensational posters representing a cabinet sur- 
1 ounded by sprites and demons. These we were infor- 
med were imported from Paris and were the same 
as used by Eobin in that city. I did not attend the 
performance at the Eappo Theatre but was told 
that it was even a more absurd affair than Ander- 
son's or Tolmaque's. I once witnessed this last gen- 
tleman's performance and was surprised to think 
that any person with a spark of judgment could 
for a moment place his performance in competition 
with the Davenport exhibition. I will briefly de- 
cribe what I witnessed. 

The performer was first tied with a rope con- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 181 

siderably larger and stiffer than those used by the 
Davenports and in an entirely different manner 
to that in which they are generally tied, the wrists 
being perfectly free. He was then placed, seated 
on a chair, behind a screen with some instruments 
at his feet which he at once began to kick about. 
In about five minutes, having managed to extricate 
one arm, he put his hand through a slit in the 
screen : after another interval he was enabled to 
expose his other hand. He then attempted to 
throw a tambourine over the screen, but instead of 
doing so threw it against^a chandelier which hung 
over head, causing a shower of broken glass — a 
manifestation not in the Davenport programme. 
Being now free from his rope, he made a great 
noise behind the screen and then coolly walked 
forth claiming to have done all the Davenports 
did. Such is the exhibition I witnessed ; and this 
trumpery affair was put forth as an explanation of 
the Davenport mysteries, and then used as a pre- 
text by the Morning Star for refusing to do justice 
to the Davenports. "We will admit nothing" 
said the editor " in favour of Spiritualism, for Tol- 
maque does all the Davenports do." Those who 
take up this position must be either devoid of 
judgment or allow their prejudices to blind their 
judgment to such an extent as to render them in- 
capable of perceiving facts. They observe through 
a perverted medium, the wish is the father of the 
thought, and they become the most unreasonable 
of reasoners and credulous among the incredulous ! 
In the case of Robin, at Paris, the musical instru- 
ments were played by assistants in the wings, and 
the whole affair was a transparent absurdity— a 
mere burlesque to excite laughter. 

We had pressing invitations from two or three 



1 82 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

theatrical managers to give the exhibition at their 
theatres. These gentlemen only looked at the 
matter with managerial ejes, thinking it might be 
the means of drawing the public to their deserted 
houses. They offered very fair and liberal terms, 
but ' John ' did not advise our going to the theatre, 
saying it was desirable to avoid such places if 
possible — that, being a supernatural exhibition, 
it should be kept above the level of ordinary ex^ 
hibitions. Concurring with his views we did not 
entertain the proposals that were made. In 
this we were blamed by our business agent who, 
being in the profession himself, looked at the mat- 
ter only in a business light. It seemed strange 
to me, past comprehension, that this man although 
he nightly witnessed this exhibition and even con- 
ducted it, could not realize the real nature of it ; 
all he would admit was, that it was " something 
he could not account for." I concluded therefore 
that his head was not of the right shape to com- 
prehend the subject. A little unpleasantness arose 
with him once, when, to annoy me, he told a 
gentleman, who was much interested in the matter, 
that it was not spiritual, for he had been connect- 
ed with some young men in Paris who could do 
the same things. This report came to my ears and 
in a very unpleasant manner. In the course of 
conversation I was advocating the truth of spirit- 
ual facts, when I was met with the remark " Why 
even your own manager says it is nothing but con- 
juring &c.' > I was of course annoyed, and took 
an early opportunity to remonstrate with him, 
pointing out that what he said, from his connection 
with us, carried great weight. The spirits also 
took up the subject, saying that although they 
did not wish it to be put forward as " spiritual " 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 183 

they objected to its being represented as anything 
else, and made this singular remark If it is persis- 
ted in we will not give the manifestations, we can emp- 
loy our time letter. Thus the matter ended, but al^ 
though he remained with us for three months 
after this, he would never acquiesce in the spirit- 
ual theory, I remarked to John once, " I suppose 
Wohlgemuth can only see his salary in this con- 
cern. You are mistaken, he replied, he thinks 
about it a good deal, he does not know • what to make 
of it)" and on one occasion when we suspected he 
was not quite right in his accounts I said to John 
" What is your opinon of Wohlgemuth "? His 
answer was " 1 think better of his hnoesty than his 
judgment" and John was right as the sequel 
proved. 

During our stay in Berlin which lasted about a 
month we received kind and courteous treat ment 
on all hands. There was of course the usual 
average of gentlemen more knowing than their 
neighbours, who adopted various cunning devices 
to " find out the trick," but in no place that I 
visited were we so free from annoyances, such as 
striking lights, as at Berlin. Members of the 
Royal Eamily occasionally witnessed the exhibition 
from the private box and on one occasion the King 
was present for a short time. There was some 
talk of a Seance at the Palace, but the war was just 
on the point of being actualised, and in conse- 
quence the Seance did not take place. We paid a 
visit to Potsdam when the use of the theatre was 
granted us by the King, and returning to Berlin to 
give a Farewell Seance, we bade adieu to the city 
with its Unter den Linden, its group of palaces, its 
stuccoed houses and its open- sewered streets. 



184 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Davenports in Hamburg. 

We next visited Hamburg. In this city resides 
Baron Holmfeld, a friend to our cause, who does 
not Bhrink from openly avowing his belief in 
Spiritualism and the Davenports, and has stbod 
up for them through evil and good report. This 
gentleman had witnessed their exhibition in 
London and had written long accounts respecting 
it in the Hamburg papers which created quite a 
sensation at the time ; we therefore considered 
that the way had been paved for a great success in 
this large, important and wealthy city. Previous 
to leaving Berlin we communicated with the 
Baron informing him of our intended visit to 
Hamburg, and requested him to have preliminary 
notices inserted in the papers. This he did, and 
not having had our experience, announced the 
exhibition as one of a spiritual character, at least, 
he implied as much by the use of the term " un- 
known forces. " The effect of this was soon 
apparent. People came prejudiced against the 
subject, and the press, to pander to the popular 
feeling, spoke disparagingly of the Seances, and 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 185 

advised the public not to countenance the spirit- 
ual humbug. Another circumstance operated 
against us. The Baron undertook to deliver an 
address at the Seances, and in so doing, put the 
exhibition entirely on a spiritual footing. This, 
coupled with the fact that he was a great political 
partizan and moreover not very popular, tended 
materially to damage our cause, and the result 
was that our Seances were even worse attended 
than at Berlin. Hamburg from its propinquity 
to Schelswig naturally partook of the war excite- 
ment that prevailed throughout Germany ; this, 
and the habits and character of the people, with 
the causes already suggested, fully account for 
our want of success, Perhaps it would be diffi- 
cult to find a town on the continent more involv- 
ed in sensuality and worldlioess, more intent on 
physical gratification, more wholly opposed to 
anything of a spiritual nature, and yet 
standing in greater need of these evidences than 
Hamburg ; it is not the whole but the sick that 
require the physician. In reply to my enquiry, 
(C What was the prevailing religion there?" the 
Baron's answer was "Mammon!" Here a sight 
presents itself that is a disgrace to civilization and 
a blot on humanity. Whole streets are devoted 
to the " social evil," where its victims sit at the 
windows throughout the day, showily dressed, 
like goods for sale. 

Our want of success induced us to seek frequent 
counsel of th& spirits. John's discernment did 
not fail to perceive the causes that were opera- 
ting against us, and these afforded him a theme 
for conversation. You have not managed things 
well here ; you can do nothing if you have the press 
against you; as for the people } they are three hun- 



186 SPIEITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

dred years behind. If you were to provide a barrel 
of beer and some Polony sausages they'd come fast 
enough, but they canH appreciate anything of this 
"kind, Kate then began talking, passing remarks 
upon the Hamburg people that were by no means 
complimentary. She suddenly said I must go, 
here comes a nasty fellow, strike a light } and, 
whilst doing so, a pillow from the bed at 
the opposite side of the room was thrown amongst 
us. 

We remained in Hamburg nearly three weeks 
and having engaged the large Convent Hall con- 
tinued our Seances during the greater portion of 
that time although they were attended with con- 
siderable loss. Our term for the hall having 
expired, the Baron kindly endeavoured to get a 
reduction made in the rent ; in tbis he ultimately 
succeeded but not without considerable trouble. 
This matter concluded, I proposed that the Baron 
should have some conversation with the spirits as 
he had never heard them speak, except on one 
occasion at a dark Seance, when John said Sow do 
you do Baron. For this purpose, as it was a bright 
sunny day, I had the cabinet covered to exclude 
the light ; this done, Fay and the Baron entered 
the cabinet while I remained outside. In less 
than a^minute, I heard John's gruff voice address- 
ing the Baron in the following words, Well, 
Baron, I am glad to find you take an interest in this 
matter. The Baron replied that he was pleased 
to have the opportunity of being of service in so 
important a cause. John then alluded to the 
business in which we had been engaged — the 
settlement of the hall, saying You had tough work 
with the Dutchman. After a few more observa- 
tions he said it was not dark enough for him to 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 187 

talk any more, but if we would have the room 
properly darkened he would come and talk to us 
at night. He then bade us " good morning." 
During this time, he occasionally spoke to me as 
I stood outside the cabinet. 

In accordance with the suggestion of John to 
darken a room at night, we went to the Baron's 
residence. The Baron and I having hung a cloth 
at the window to exclude the light from the street, 
intimated to the mediums that we were ready ^ 
upon which they came into the room, but almost 
before either of them had entered it, the horn, 
which was lying on the table, was thrown 
in the air and fell on the floor. We then took 
our seats and Kate immediately began talking in 
a jocular strain ; among the things she said to the 
Baron was The older the buck the harder the horn, 
implying, as we took it, that though he was 
getting into years he possessed good stamina. 

The following is an account of the Seance as 
given by the Baron : — 

The want of interest and attention, as to the 
manifestations, in this town may be worth observa- 
tion and reflection, because it shows the low degree 
of spiritual interest in Germany throughout, and how 
little expectation may be fostered as to the actual 
and speedy development of Spiritualism in the great 
fatherland of scepticism. Nevertheless, during this 
depressed state of spiritual action in Hamburg, 
manifestations occurred worth the liveliest attention 
and consideration. Both the spirits, which take the 
most active part in the manifestations, the male 
spirit, Henry Morgan, and the female spirit, Kate, 
represented as being his wife, entered into repeated 
and regular conversations not only in the cabinet or 
in the Seance, but in a darkened room at my house, 
After a short meeting in the cabinet, the spirit 
addressed as John King, told me himself, that in the 



188 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

evening he would give more ample communications, 
providing the room was made darker than the cabinet 
then was (early in the afternoon), and when we met 
in a properly darkened room I immediately felt the 
trumpet floating in the air and heard the voice 
addressing me with great distinctness and force, and 
turning itself to other gentlemen when addressing 
them. When asking a question the answer was ready 
at hand, nearly before the last word "of the question 
had sounded, and Kate generally took up the topic, 
making her remarks often with fun and puns. I 
asked John King, how he could account for the in- 
difference of the public in Hamburg. He answered, 
the people here are two hundred years behind their time ; 
they are most material and don't pay attention to spirit- 
ual things. They won't hear about " geister," Kate 
adding the remark they call it "spook." We asked, 
"What is the aim of your ^manifestations ?" John 
King answered. : 

There is only one aim, one object in view, to con- 
vince men they have immortal souls. If they come 
here people are much the same as they were before, and 
you may fairly tell them, that as the tree is felled so it 
remains j only there is progress. I am commissioned to 
do these things and there are those who direct me. Angels 
are seen, but Jar off, on high, and distinguished by a 
bright light. 

Thus he entered into sundry spiritual matters, 
promiscuously interrupted by talkative Kate. 
When asked whether the ladies might be invited to 
converse with him, he had some objections on account 
of their talk. He admitted them, however, and 
began his communications by taking hold of a basket 
with shells, and expressing his satisfaction in finding 
and handling them. He threw them at the ladies 
and hit them with great exactness and continued the 
conversation for a quarter of an hour, responding 
to every question and interpellation, ending with a 
hearty ( good night y just as if he was exhausted or 
tired. But Kate did not come forward in this mixed 
company, and howsoever prone she before had been 



SPIEITUAL EXPERIENCES. 189 

to speak and make jokes, she now had wrapped 
herself up in silence. 

It may be well here to state that though Henry 
Morgan is the real name of the spirit, the Daven- 
ports generally call him John King, which, was 
the name he first gave as symbolical of power. 
In the course of the Seance recorded by the Baron, 
in replv to a question of mine John said he was 
commissioned to do these things and that he got 
well paid for it, but I could not elicit in what way. 
The time for leaving Hamburg having arrived 
our future course became the subject for 
consideration. The Davenports, and Mr. Fay in 
particular, were for going back at once to 
America, but, as it was necessary for them to visit 
London to arrange some business matters, I 
suggested to them to make a halt at Brussels and 
when there, judge whether it would be worth 
while to give a few Seances. This course was 
decided on, and we forthwith left Hamburg, 
shaking, like the apostles of old, the dust trom 
our feet against that city. 



190 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 



CHAPTEEXVI. 

The Davenports in Belgium. 

I now approach the most interesting and satisfac- 
tory part of my experience — interesting on account 
of the many remarkable and curious incidents con- 
nected with it, and satisfactory as being the turn- 
ing point in the career of the Davenports. 

In the facts I am about to record will be seen 
more clearly than in anything I have hereto- 
fore stated that this exhibition of spiritual power 
has been designed by the spirit- world for the ac- 
complishment of great and important purposes, 
and that the Davenports are mere instruments 
through whom the spirits operate ; as Mr Fay 
once remarked to me, " It is not our exhibition, 
but the spirits'." The more I think of it, the more 
I am impressed with the wisdom displayed in it. 
I will just mention one or two points that occur 
to me. Evidence of certain facts is to be given to 
the world ; people are induced from motives of 
curiosity to witness them, and though manifesta- 
tions of supernatural power are generally produc- 
tive of fear yet, none — at least very seldom — is 
occasioned by witnessing this exhibition. Then 
again, its being put forward as an exhibition ren- 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 191 

ders all parties independent ; all desiring the 
evidence being able to obtain it at a trifling cost, 
while the livelihood it affords the Davenports is 
their inducement to go from country to country 
to exhibit. Those who think that these manifes- 
tations are unworthy of spiritual beings have only 
to be reminded of the fact that inasmuch as the 
spirit- world is peopled from this, it contains every 
variety and phase of human character. As Mr. 
Howitt has observed, " Are these who play tricks 
and fling about instruments spirits from heaven? 
Can God really send such ? Yes, God sends them, 
to teach us this, if nothing more ; that he has 
servants of all grades and tastes ready to do all 
kinds of work, and He has here sent what you 
call low and harlequin spirits to a low and very 
sensual age. Had he sent anything higher it 
would have gone right over the heads of their au- 
diences. As it is, nine- tenths cannot take in 
what they see. " Such work would certainly not 
be very congenial employment for the higher order 
of spiritual beings, but the character of the work 
agrees with the character of the spirits who are 
engaged upon it, who appear to be about such 
specimens of humanity as may be met with hap- 
hazard in our streets by the hundred. Taking 
into account all the circumstances attending the 
exhibition, especially bearing in mind that the 
manifestations can always be depended on taking 
place when there is occasion for . them, I do not 
hesitate to pronounce it one of the most wonderful 
events in the world's history. 

At Brussels we met with the same difficulty, as 
at Berlin, with regard to a suitable room for ex- 
hibiting in, most of the Halls belonging to the diff- 
erent societies that abound in the town, and are 



192 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

for the most part only used for purposes connected 
with the immediate objects of those societies. The 
result was that a week was lost in fruitless attempts 
to obtain a place for exhibiting in, the only one 
available being a large Auction Room which did 
not appear the sort of place that the class, who 
are the usual patrons of the Davenports, would 
care to go to. It became therefore a matter of deli- 
beration whether it would be worth while to give 
any Seances in Brussels, and after looking at it from 
all points of view it was resolved to quit at once and 
go to London. A time-table was referred to and 
it was found we were about a quarter of an hour 
too late for the steam-boat that day ; we were 
therefore neccessitated to remain till the next in 
Brussels. Soon after we had made our decision, 
Ira Davenport said he did not like the idea of leav- 
ing the town without doing something "Well" 
I said " we will hear what the spirits say about 
it to-night.' ' Night came and we darkened a room, 
whereupon Kate commenced in this strain. 

So you are going to leave this place without doing 
anything ; you are a pretty set of fellows, 

John then spoke. 

Cooper, you must not leave here without doing 
something ; ifs a very important place ; it contains the 
crystallized superstition of ages ; besides there is 
great agitation going on in political matters — a con- 
test has just taken place between the priest party and 
the liberals which has resulted in favour of the lat- 
ter. 

" Well," I replied " Tou know our difficulty ." 

Yes, said John, I am perfectly aware of that but 
if you do nothing else, give a Seance to the press and 
let the facts go fttfore the world in that way. My ad- 
miosis to take the room for three nights and give a 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 193 

Seance to the press and two to the public and you 
will then he able to judge whether it is worth while 
to continue, 

"But"! said " if it's a failure,' I shall be obliged 
to send to England for money to get home with." 

Never mind, donH let a great cause like this he 
sacrificed for the salce of a few pounds. 

He also instructed me to draw up a suitable ad- 
dress for the first Seance in which I was to explain 
the Paris affair, as it had had, he said, great weight 
with the Belgium people. Acting on this advice 
we engaged the Salle U Orient for three nights 
and announced two Seances to the public. In the 
mean time I prepared an address for the preliminary 
invitation Seance, which I submitted to John for 
his approval. He expressed himself satisfied with 
it but suggested the alteration of the word " phe- 
nomena " Say nothing about phenomena he said, 
They art much more likely to believe it is Supernat- 
ural if you say nothing about it. I remarked " It is 
like gilding the pill," Yes, said he, and it oper- 
ates before they are aware of it. 

In the address I remarked that n For several 
years the Brothers had exhibited in America before 
all classes of society but never till they came to 
England were they subject to violent and outrage- 
ous treatment on the part of the public or to sys- 
tematic misrepresentations on the part of certain 
portions of the press. Why such should be the 
case it was difficult to understand. It was but 
fair, however to state that he press in many in- 
stances had given true and faithful reports of the 
facts without attempting tq assign a cause for 
them, which was all that w desired. In Ireland 
and Berlin and indeeu in some of the London 
newspapers nothing could b( fairer than the notices 



194 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

that had appeared, and all we now asked was that 
a fair and candid statement should be published of 
what transpired. After explaining the nature of 
the alleged Paris exposure I observed that at Berlin 
where we had recently been, and where we re- 
ceived the fairest and most courteous treatment, it 
was generally admitted that no adequate sol- 
ution of the matter had ever been afforded, and 
that I need scarcely observe that had any fraud 
been discovered the Davenports would not have 
been able to continue their exhibition in the very 
countries where these occurrences took place." In 
conclusion I said " I have only to remark that I 
wish it to be distinctly understood that the Da- 
venports do not appear before the public, as has 
been stated, as propagators of creeds but simply as 
exhibitors of facts. These they present without 
offering any theory. They prefer to allow the en- 
lightened spectators of them to draw their own 
conclusions, and leave the decision in the hands of 
the public, of whom they ask nothing but fair play 
of which they heard so much in England but ex- 
perienced so little." 

The hall in which the exhibition took place had 
an open skylight running the whole length of the 
roof and, as it was the middle of summer, the 
room was quite light during the greater portion 
of the evening. To obtain therefore the necessa- 
ry condition of darkness, a large piece of drapery 
was suspended, tent-fashion, over the cabinet, and 
measures were also adopted to render the cabinet 
more impervious to the light by sticking paper 
over its joints. This is the first time I ever wit- 
nessed the manifestations in what may be called 
day-light; the precautions we took had the 
desired effect and there was no diminution in the 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 195 

power of the spiritual forces. 

About forty gentlemen, most of whom were 
connected with the press, attended the first 
Seance. My address was received favourably ; 
and evidently produced an excellent impression, 
removing the prejudices of some and preparing 
the way for impartial and independent observation 
in most of those present. The speech was de- 
livered in French, by our manager. We were 
fortunate in having two committee-men of the 
right sort, quick and intelligent and disposed to 
do justice, both to the public and to the Daven- 
ports. One of these was a gentleman connected 
with the press, named Berend. I may here ob- 
serve that a great deal of the interest in the 
cabinet Seance depends upon the committee. If 
these are sharp, active and intelligent men and 
thoroughly sceptical (their scepticism is of no 
consequence if they are honest,) the Seance will 
always go off well and produce a good effect. 
The spirits evidently take note of the committee 
and sometimes talk about them. For instance, 
we once had a man who was very troublesome ; 
he would not comply with the directions given, 
and thought by the exercise of a little cunning to 
find something out. He would pretend to shut 
the door, and then suddenly open it and look in ; 
this was a favourite device of his. Well, after 
the Seance I remarked to Kate, that we had a 
curious committee man, Yes, she said, but there 
ivas no malice in him. 

From " L'Etoile Beige " I take the following 
account of the first Seance. After giving a 
description of the cabinet and an account of the 
preliminary operations, it says, according to my 
translation : — 

o2 



196 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

"The two brothers with white neck-ties and an 
evening dress sat facing one another against the 
cabinet and were firmly tied by the committee to the 
seat, both feet and hands. The doors were shut, the 
gas put down, and in a few seconds they were untied. 
The cabinet was shut, and in less time than it takes 
to relate it, they were shewn tied again more firmly 
than before, the cords interlaced five or six times 
round the legs, and passing through the holes in the 
seat tied their elbows and their necks, and also in- 
geniously tied their elbows and their necks to their 
hands behind their backs. The knots, artistically 
formed, would do credit to a weaver (tisserand J To 
these cords the committee added others to render 
them still more secure. Each endeavoured to effect 
the gordian knot. Berend, who had taken off his 
gloves to pull the ropes tighter, and in doing so, hurt 
his hands, which were only accustomed to handle a 
pen and a cigarette. The doors were shut and 
immediately the violin, the guitar, tambourine and 
bells, which had been placed in the cabinet, began t© 
sound, and banged about making a frightful distur- 
bance. At the same time hands were constantly 
seen, agitated, at the window, and from which the 
horn at various times was thrown with considerable 
force. The noise ceased, and the doors were quickly 
opened, leaving the two brothers sitting in the same 
position and tied in the same way. It was declared 
they had not moved. 

Berend, who had been standing near the cabinet 
was perfectly astonished ; his physiognomy and his 
pantomimic gestures showed his astonishment and 
that he could not understand it at all. A* voice 
from the audience asked him what he had seen. " Ah ! 
I have seen nothing more than you." replied he. " On 
shutting the door I apparently saw a detached 
hand/' 

" But whose hand— to which of the brothers did it 
belong ?" 

" 1 know nothing about it ; I tried to catch it, but 
it was, of no use ;" 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 197 

Applause followed. The two" brothers modestly 
inclined their Yankee heads ; and these experiences 
were succeeded by others, stronger and stronger, 
absolutely comme chez Nicolet. 

Berend himself was shut up in the cabinet with them. 
His face did not indicate terror, which showed he had 
no fear of being devoured. He sat against the back of 
the cabinet with his face towards the door ; his right 
hand was tied to the shoulder of the Davenport on the 
left, and his left hand to the knee of the Davenport 
on his right. He had placed on his knees a violin, a 
guitar and the tambourine ; the bells were placed on 
the carpet ; the doors were shut, the gas lowered 

and All at once the violin was scraped, the 

guitar twanged, the tambourine jingled, the bell 
chimed beautifully. It was a veritable chatter. The 
doors flew open. The guitar and violin were on 
the ground, the tambourine crowned the head of 
Berend, who was still seated in the same place im- 
movable and still tied to the two brothers. ''What 
have you felt V he was asked. 

€l I felt the violin and guitar moving about in the 
cabinet, and a hand moving over my face, which I 
assure you was not agreeable. 7 ' 

" How was that done?" 

I know absolutely nothing of it ; I have seen nothing 
there but du feu, or rather I have seen nothing at 
all." 

But what good would it be to recount the other 
experiences, the experiment with the flour in 
the hands, or the seance given'in the dark by Mr. Fay ? 
The phosphorised guitars which fly about round the 
room and on the heads of the company ; the coats 
taken off in a few seconds by a man who has his hands 
tied behind his back. It is necessary to see these 
things to form an idea of them, and especially to be- 
lieve them/' 

The above may be taken as a fair specimen of 
the criticism of the Brussels press ; every paper 
had a notice of much the same tenour as the one 



198 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

I have translated, and although public attention 
was much engaged with the war in Germany, 
which had now passed from a state of posse to that 
of esse, great interest was excited by the accounts 
of the Seances, and formed the principal theme of 
conversation, and, after a few days, it was no un- 
common thing to see little groups of persons in 
the streets discussing the matter, as their actions 
and a few stray words heard en passant indicated 
they were doing. 

The public Seances were attended with success, 
and induced us to engage the hall for six nights 
longer, at the end of which time we were invited 
by the proprietor of the Theatre des Boulevards to 
give Seances at his place. His invitation was 
accepted, and adopting low prices and engaging a 
splendid band of music which played an hour in 
advance, great numbers availed themselves of the 
opportunity to witness the manifestations. We 
remained in this theatre for three weeks. 
$ I must not omit to mention that while we were 
at the Salle 1' Orient we were visited by Victor 
Hugo. Receiving an intimation of his coming, 
we reserved the place of honour for him — immedi- 
ately in front of the cabinet. After witnessing 
both Seanees he expressed himself perfectly 
satisfied with the genuineness of the manifestations 
and said they far exceeded his expectations — in 
fact he could not have supposed such things to be 
possible. I believe I am right in saying that 
Victor Hugo, was, at the time, a believer in spirit- 
ual phenomena. 

During our stay in Brussels, I had more frequent 
conversation with the spirits than at any other 
period, for in consequence of their remark that 
we did not communicate with them often enough^ 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 199 

I endeavoured to induce the Davenports to listen 
more frequently to their counsels. Some of these 
conversations I will relate. 

After our success in Brussels was assured, I asked 
John how he considered we were getting on, You 
are making an indelible impression " was the reply," 
it will last after you, have left the world. I said it 
was a good thing we stayed — that we were very 
near upon leaving — our staying being at one time 
most uncertain. John concurring in my remarks 
proceeded to repeat some lines beginning with 
these words ; 

" Great God on what a slender thread 
Hang everlasting things!" 

I said " Why John where did you learn that, it 
sounds like one of Watts' hymns ? " He replied I 
learnt that many years ago when I was a boy at school; 
my name is Ilenry Morgan — I am a Whelehman. 
Our conversation was cut short by a flash of 
lightning followed by a loud peal of thunder. I 
must go now the spirit said. Does the lightning 
affect you ? I asked, It does not affect me, but it 
affects my conditions. Silence ensued and a light 
was struck. On another occasion, nobody but my- 
self and Ira present, Kate said, Johnny is gone to 
Austria ; he takes great interest in the war. 

I asked, "does the spirit- world exert any in- 
fluence on the war ? " 

Undoubtedly, was the reply The spirits are at 
the bottom of it. 

Ira then said " Do you mean to say that spirits 
instigate such dreadful things as wars ? " 

Yes ; it is the only way of arriving at certain re- 
sults. A war is just as necessary at times, to clear the 
moral atmosphere as a thunder storm is to clear the air 



200 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

In reference to the same subject I once asked, 
whether some great end was contemplated as 
the result of the war and the manifestations, and 
whether the ultimate result of both was identical ; 
to which I received this reply. Some great pur- 
pose is doubtless had in view, but what it is I hardly 
know myself, and I do not know that I should be jus- 
tified in telling you even if I did. 

At Brussels William Davenport purchased a 
little Italian greyhound. One night Ira and I were 
alone with the dog in the room. The light was 
extinguished and immediately Kate's voice was 
heard asking. 

What have you got here? " A little pup " Ira 
replied. A noise was then heard as of a. hand 
patting the dog, and the animal whined. I re- 
marked, " the dog doesn't seem to like you.". 

JVb, it can see me. 

(i Well " I said " I had the idea that animals 
are more sensitive to spirit-presence than human 
beings." 

Yes that is the case; they can see its, and so would 
men if they lived more natural lives. 

I, hereupon, observed that I could not think 
what William Davenport wanted with the dog. 
Oh he wants something to love ; itfs natural for every- 
body to have something to set their affections mi. Ira 
has got his wife. 

" Well " I said " and what have I got " 

You — , you have got your children. My spectacles 
were then taken from my face and hereupon I 
heard Ira exclaim, " Gently, you are running 
something in my eye." I said, " mind my spec- 
tacles, don't break them," i" won't hurt them, the 
voice replied. A light was struck and my glasses 
were found on Ira Davenport's face. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 201 

In reference to the above I may remark^ that 
at our Seances at home I frequently noticed that 
our cat always evinced considerable fear when 
the spirits were manifesting. It would shut its 
eyes and endeavour to escape from the room ; 
whereas at other times it was one of the most 
quiet and staid of the feline tribe, and ever dis- 
posed to make itself as comfortable as possible. 

On one occasion I obtained the following an- 
swers to my queries. The spirit said " Insanity 
is not the result of possession as some suppose, hat ts 
owing to the train Being out of order. It is then 
like a man having to work with a defective machine. 
The spirit cannot act properly through a disorganised, 
brain. On the spirit leaving the body it is no longer 
insane. 

*' Do you remember the events of your earth- 
life ? " 

Yes, more vividly than when here because our faculties 
are quickened. 

f * Have you, as spirits possessing a spiritual 
body, ailments like ours ? " 

No, all our ailments are mental and all spirits are 
subject to them ; all are affected by conditions as in the 
earth-life. 

" Are you happy ? " 

Not always. I am sometimes happier than at 
others, 

u Do you progress ? " 

Yes; we have our teachers. A child entering the 
spirit'tvorld becomes an adult and is educated as in 
your world. It is Best for a man to live out his time 
on earth, because it is natural. 

The above interesting colloquy is recorded 
from notes made at the time and is the longest of 
the kind I ever had. 



202 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

While at Brussels we gave a Seance at the house 

of the Princess . There were only about 

a dozen persons present but the manifestations 
were very excellent. There was a finer display of 
arms than I ever before or since witnessed ; they 
came out in rapid succession, two appearing at the 
same time, and were of a peculiar pink hue. I 
have occasionally seen veins on the arms. At 
this private Seance, on the cessation of the music 
the guitar was thrown into the room. I was at 
the time holding a lamp in front of the cabinet 
and distinctly observed a naked arm recede from 
the guitar, and once on the opening of the door 
I saw a hand leaving the bolt. This proves that 
everything that is done in the cabinet is done by 
hands formed for the purpose. During the dark 
Seance the manifestations were very powerful. 
The ladies at first thought it fine fun and giggled 
tremendously, but before it was over they were 
wonderfully subdued and left the room, and could 
not be prevailed upon to return. 

A Seamoe was also given before the members of 
the principal Literary Society in their large room 
situated in La Grande Place. The room was 
crowded with the elite of the town and much as- 
tonishment was excited. One of the committee 
while playing tricks in trying to aeize the bell, had 
his face cut open with it. At the end of the Seance 
we were surprised to find the instruments smeared 
with blue paint which had been put on by the 
committee unknown to us. We observed several 
gentlemen examining closely the hands of the 
Davenports but did not know for what purpose. 
They had not the fairness and the candour to state 
the result of the experiment they had made. 

In Brussels I met an English gentleman and 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 203 

in the course of conversation I asked him if he 
believed in spirits. He said he used not to be- 
lieve in them but was disposed to do so now. 
I asked him what had changed his views ; and he 
then proceeded to tell me that a few months 
before he was in Florence, and whilst lying in bed 
one morning he distinctly saw his sister, who 
spoke to him. He said he felt alarmed and came 
over in a profuse perspiration, and, on recovering, 
tried to persuade himself he had been dreaming ; 
but this he could not do, as the appearance seemed 
perfectly real and he felt assured he was awake. 
He went on to say that ultimately he might have 
persuaded himself that it was only a vivid dream 
he had had but for the sequel. Three days after he 
received a letter from England stating that his sister 
died at the time he had seen and heard the 
apparition. I know other persons who have had 
similar experiences ; and who indeed does not ? 

After exhibiting a month in Brussels we deter- 
mined on visiting the principal towns of Belgium. 
The first we visited was Louvain. Here there is 
a college or university and our audience was prin- 
cipally composed of students, about seven hundred 
in number. We then went to Liege, Namur, 
Charleroi, Mons, Tournai, Ypres, Bruges, Gand, 
Ostend, St. Nicholas, Lokeren, Antwerp, and 
Tirlemont. We also visited Lille and Eoubaix, 
two French towns lying in our route. In all tjiese 
towns, although the cholera and hot weather pre- 
vailed, both unfavourable to public assemblages, 
the result was satisfactory both with regard to the 
attendance and the impression made. Frequently 
would the spirits remark after the Seances, " It 
was a highly appreciative audience; you are 
making an indelible impression." 






204 SPIRITUAL EXPEEIENCES. 

It will serve no purpose to enter into the par- 
ticulars attending this provincial tour; it will 
suffice to record a few of the more noteworthy 
incidents that occurred during this period. 

At Charleroi William Davenport was taken ill 
with inflammation of the bowels. He was attended 
by the first physician of the town, but, as he was 
a sensible doctor and did not prescribe much medi- 
cine, the patient was dissatisfied with his treatment 
and wanted me to telegraph to London for a doc- 
tor in whom he had more confidence. I told him 
I thought it was unnecessary — that the proper 
thing, in my opinion, was being done for him ; 
and on his still pressing me to telegraph to Lon- 
don, I suggested asking the advice of the spirits 
upon the matter. In this he concurred. Accord- 
ingly Ira and I retired to a dark chamber and 
were at once in communication with Kate. I 
began by saying " What do you think of William 
— is it necessary to send to London for a doctor?" 
Certainly not ; he is going on all right, he will he well 
in a day or two. He ate too much melon yesterday ; 
you are neither of you (meaning the Brothers) 
sufficiently careful with regard to your diet ; you do 
a great many things that lower the vitality. If you 
were more careful we could do more through you than 
we do. Fay takes more care of himself and that is the 
reason we can do so much through him. I here in- 
terposed and said " Don't you think they smoke 
too much ?" Yes, certainly ; it is a very injurious 
2)ractice, every cigar you smoke you drive a nail into 
your coffin. Ira said " Well Kate I shall have a 
good many nails in my coffin then." I think this 
advice had the effect of diminishing the daily al- 
lowance of cigars. William Davenport was well 
enough to be removed the next day, so that my 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 205 

judgment of the Doctor's treatment proved cor- 
rect. On settling with the gentleman we were 
all surprised at the smallness of his fee. He paid 
three visits, one of which was early in the morn- 
ing, for which he charged six francs. In London 
the probable charge for like services would have 
been as many guineas. The general losvness of 
price that prevails in Belgium, especially in the 
provinces, is doubtless the reason why we cannot 
'compete with the foreigner.' 

At Tournai there is a very fine Cathedral. This 
I inspected one afternoon in company with Ira 
Davenport. The attendant took us into the vestry 
and showed us a variety of robes which had be- 
longed to former dignitaries of the church and had 
been used on state occasions ; some of these vest- 
ments were large, costly affairs containing a great 
quantity of gold. From the Cathedral we went 
to the Theatre where our exhibition was to be 
given. The building being tolerably dark I pro- 
posed to Ira to get into the cabinet to " talk with 
John. " We were no sooner in the cabinet than 
we had evidence of spirit- presence, and John's 
voice proceeded to descant on our recent visit to 
the Cathedral. I was with you in the Cathedral, 
said he. I saw you looking at those robes. They 
should all be melted up and the gold devoted to com- 
merce. Religion does no t want such trappings. Churches 
have had their day, but their game is nearly played 
out. " Are you satisfied with the manner in which 
the exhibition is now put before the public?" 
I asked. Yes, but I had rather you did not come to 
theatres if you can get others places; being a super- 
natural exhibition yon ought to keep above the ordinary 
exhibitions, but the principal thing is to get the facts be- 
fore the world. I told you the exhibition ivould pay if 



206 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

properly managed, for it is a wonderful exhibition. 
We do not come to make you money, but we wish you to 
live ly it. On my asking for some advice the spirit 
said. It is for you to do the material part of the 
work. — for us to give the manifestations, nevertheless 
we are willing to advise you where we can, but in some 
respects our judgment is no better than yours. On 
this occasion John was the only speaker : gen- 
erally Kate is the first to speak and I have known 
her say more than once, " John would come and 
talk to you but it is not dark enough for him 

While at Roubaix a curious circumstance 
occurred. We had all gone to the hall to give the 
exhibition except our manager. He followed 
soon after and informed us there was great con- 
sternation at the hotel, in consequence of all the 
bells in the house ringing, which they could not 
account for. I went at once to the hotel to see 
what was the matter ; I found the bells had 
ceased but the surprise they had occasioned by no 
means abated. I asked if the bells had ever 
rung in that way before and they assured me they 
had not ; i they thought it must be the devil.' The 
bells I found to be arranged in a novel and 
peculiar manner, electricity being employed to 
act on them. I took an early opportunity, when 
conversing with the spirits, to ask if they knew 
anything of the mysterious bell-ringing, when 
Kate at once said I and another spirit did it. 

" But how could you manage to do it when the 
Brothers were not present ■?" 

There was sufficient influence left. 

"How is it," I asked, "that spirits can do 
things when there is no medium present as in 
the case of haunted houses?" 

They can act through the magnetism that is retained 






SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 207 

in those places ; there is no telling what some spirits 
can do ; some spirits can do much more than others. 

" Can you make yourself visible ?" 

Yes, hut I am not allowed. 

" John showed himself to the Davenports once, 
did he not ?" 

Yes. 

I then asked whether spirits could convey 
messages between America and England so as to 
save the necessity of laying down cables. They 
said it could be done but that spirits would not do 
what men could do for themselves. 

While waiting for the conveyance to take us 
from the hotel at Namur, Ira Davenport said to me, 
"Cooper, I had a dream about you last night, of so 
vivid a character that I continue to realize every 
particular. I dreamt you were up in a tree holding 
a large black serpent by the neck, the body of which 
was coiled about the trunk. It was making desperate 
efforts to get free, but you held it tight at arm's 
length in spite of its writhing, and called on me to 
come and help you. I said ' I cannot get at you to 
render you any assistance/ • Throw at it ' you 
replied. * If I do, I may hit you.' 'Never mind,' 
you said, 6 1 may as well be killed by a stone as by 
a snake.' Upon this, I got some large stones, and 
proceeded to throw at the serpent. The first two 
took but little effect, but the third hit the serpent on 
the head, producing a noise like the splitting of a board, 
and the monster relaxed its hold, uncoiled, and fell 
dead." 

At night, after the public Seance, we had 
some conversation with the spirits, and I asked 
them if they could tell us anything about Ira's 
dream. The reply was : — It was not a dream — it 
was a vision and is significant. 

" Will you interpret it V I asked. 
The snake is Old Theology, which you have got by the 
neck, and is squirming an! straggling to get free ; but 



208 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

you hold on, our blows are telling and you will soon see 
it dead at your feet. 

" What does the first stone mean T' I asked. 
Our coming to England j the rest let the future 
reveal. You began at Brussels on the anniversary of 
Waterloo, and are now fighting a battle which will be 
attended with greater results than even that. Our mission 
is to uproot superstition from the earth. Superstition 
is the enemy of allprogress. Destruction must precede 
reconstruction. We are now getting the lever under and 
shall give it a prise some day. Good night I we will see 
you again. 

This was all spoken in a clear and well-artieu- 
lated manner, and is almost word for word as 
uttered by the spirit. 

At Ypres a gentleman who holds a high position 
in the town called on us after the Seance. I pro- 
posed to Ira to let him witness some manifesta- 
tions in private. Accordingly we three adjourned 
to my bed-room. Ira took his seat at the end of 
a table, resting his hands on it, and at his request 
our visitor placed a hand on his shoulder and held 
his hand. I did the the same the other side. On 
the candle being -blown out, the horn, which had 
been placed at the farther end of the table, was 
heard to move and was then felt gently tapping 
our heads. A voice was then heard speaking 
through it; the candle- stick was then thrown 
across the room. A light was then struck, and 
the things being readjusted the experiment was 
repeated. A more conclusive test than this it is 
not possible to give. Any person may readily 
satisfy himself of the truth of these manifestations 
by taking one of the Davenports into his own 
private room, locking the door, and holding the 
hands of the medium. It will be found that a 
musical instrument, a guitar for instance, will be 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 209 

played upon in the dark and carried about the 
room. This is a test the Davenports occasionally 
give. 

The proceedings at Antwerp are the only ones 
now remaining to call for any notice. In this 
town the Seances were attended with great success. 
We had the use of the splendid hall belonging to 
the Philharmonic Society, which was nightly 
filled with the elite of the town. A very curious 
incident occurred here. When the cabinet Seance 
was finished a gentleman exhibited his hand 
covered with some black composition. He stated 
that he had caught hold of the hands that appeared 
at the window and fully expected to find the hands 
of the Davenports black, but to his surprise such 
was not the case. There was a private passage 
leading from the hall to the room in which the 
dark Seance took place. In passing through 
this passage, during the interval between the 
Seances, I used to turn the gas down and talk 
with the spirits. After the incident just alluded 
to, the spirit said, That was a very good test, you 
must get itpublshed. 

" In what paper ?" I asked 

In the Banner of Light. 

On one of these occasions I said, " You did not 
give us much of a tune to night." 

No.- The fiddle broke down ; you must get us 
another fiddle ; we can* t play on that thing, was 
the rejoinder. 

At Antwerp a Seance was given at a private 
house, about twenty persons being present. The 
manifestations were very excellent. Great quiet- 
ness prevailed and the instruments could be heard 
and, by the light of the phosphorous, seen, floating 
about the room at a considerable elevation and 



210 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

for a long time together. 

I was one day walking through the Picture 
Gallery of this town when I observed a gentleman 
copying a picture representing some angels at 
the tomb of Christ. I said jocularly to the artist, 
" Do you consider that angels have wings like 
birds?" He replied he " did not know." I said 
" Perhaps you don't believe in angels ?" 

" I believe in spirits if that is what you mean," 
said lie. 

He then proceeded to tell me his experience in 
these matters. He said he was induced a short 
time before to attend a Seance out of curiosity, in 
the course of which three letters were given as the 
name of the communicating spirit, but which 
were not recognized at the time. The spirit 
expressed himself unhappy and solicited his 
prayers. The letters indicated were the initials 
of his father's name. At a subsequent Seance the 
spirit made further disclosures, which were to the 
following effect as told to me: — 
" My father died when I was a child, my motVer 
having died a few months before ; it was repre- 
sented that my father had died from grief at her 
loss, but such was not the case. He told me he 
had committed suicide, and this was not his only 
trouble ; he had fought a duel and killed his ad- 
versary. Inquiries were made and the revelations 
of the spirit jDroved to be true. I continued to 
pray for my father's spirit, and he expressed 
himself benefited by my prayers. Such was my 
introduction to Spiritualism." 

I had now been with the Davenports a consider- 
able time and my affairs seeming to require my 
attention I determined on returning to England. 

Before leaving I spoke to the spirits on the 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 211 

subject. I told them I was thinking of returning 
to m j home and that they, I thought, would now be 
able to do without me. On former occasions 
when I had talked of leaving they had urged me 
not to " leave the ship " (this was a favourite ex- 
pression) but in this instance it was " Well go to 
England and see about your business and if we 
think it desirable for you to return we will let 
you know." I left. The Davenports went to Hol- 
land and from there I received a message frDm 
the. spirits requesting me to accompany the party 
to Eussia, but I regret that circumstances prevent- 
ed me doing so. The Davenports went there and 
I think I cannot do better than give their own 
account of their successful career in that country. 
From Eussia they went to Poland and thence to 
Sweden. The following letter was written by Mr. 
Fay who has been represented as exposing the 
Brothers in America, but who has been with them 
ever since they left that country. 

Petite Moski Maison Gambs, 
No. 6, St. Petersburg, 

Jan. 23, 1867. 
Dear Banner — A brief sketch of the movements and 
doings of the Brothers Davenport during the past 
four months may not be uninteresting to many of 
your readers. After making a tour through Belgium, 
giving public and private seances in nearly every 
town of importance, with the most triumphant success, 
astonishing the masses, confounding the learned and 
scientific, who in many cases undertook to explain 
away the mystery, the Brothers made arrangements 
for a tour through Holland. On the 17th of Sept., 
their first seance was given to the members of the 
press and about fifty of the most prominent and in- 
fluential gentlemen of Amsterdam, preparatory to 
their opening a regular series of public seances. The 



212 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

press, as usual, when not influenced by the popular 
tumult, or the pressure of a mob, made voluminous 
and interesting reports, describing minutely and 
truthfully all the different manifestations they had 
seen, and commenting with great severity upon the 
violent and unreasonable opposition which they en- 
countered in many towns of England and France. 

The result was, that two days after, when the Bro- 
thers gave their first seance, they were warmly re- 
ceived by a very large and respectable audience. 
During their stay of three weeks, they gave about 
twenty public and private seances in Amsterdam, 
granting investigators every opportunity in private to 
examine and test the reality of the phenomena, and in 
every instance giving complete satisfaction. During 
their tour through Holland, they visited nearly all the 
towns and cities of any note, giving, in all, ninety 
public and private seances, and were always received 
by large and respectable audiences, in many instances 
the largest theatres and halls being so crowded that 
many persons were unable to gain admittance. 

After their return to Brussels, they gave several 
seances in the largest and most commodious hall in 
the city ; after which they started on their journey to 
St. Petersburg, stopping by request at several towns 
on the route, and giving public seances, to immense 
audiences, always being warmly applauded at the con- 
clusion of the manifestations. After a long and 
tedious journey of ninety hours, they arrived in this 
city, on the 27th of December, and immediately com- 
menced preparations for giving a series of seances, 
both public and private. The fame of the Brothers 
having preceded them, it required but a verbal an- 
nouncement of their arrival to awaken an immense 
interest among all classes to witness the wonders that 
occur in their presence. Invitations were immediately 
issued to all the members of the press, and a seance 
given to them with the most satisfactory results. 
Every journal, without an exception, bore testimony 
in the most vigorous and emphatic language to the 
extraordinary character of the phenomena. The fol- 




SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 213 

lowing day the Brothers received as many as fifty 
visitors of the nobility, all anxious to make engage- 
ments for public seances. 

Their first public seance was given on the 7th of 
January, to one thousand of the nobility of St. Peters- 
burg, and, in consequence of all the seats being 
engaged in advance during the day, the hall was 
crowded in every part long before eight o'clock, the 
hour of commencing. After a searching and careful 
examination of the cabinet, ropes and musical instru- 
ments, by the committee, (one of them a Russian 
Admiral), the Brothers appeared on the platform, and 
were received with great applause by the audience. 
For two hours the manifestations continued with 
great power, the committee resorting to every means 
which their ingenuity and that of the audience could 
suggest, to fathom the mystery, until they were perfectly 
satisfied, as they afterwards stated to the audience, 
"of the integrity of the entertainment and honesty of 
the Brothers." 

The next seance was given at the residence of the 
French Ambassador to a party of his friends, num- 
bering in all about fifty persons of the nobility, includ- 
ing many of the officers of the Imperial Court. 
General Cassius M. Clay, our American Ambassador, 
and the Count Scroflfenhoff, brother-in-law to the 
Emperor, acted as the committee, and both after a 
careful investigation of two hours, during which time 
they received the most conclusive and satisfactory 
tests, expressed themselves perfectly satisfied as to the 
inexplicability of the manifestations. 

On the evening of the 9th, they gave a seance in the 
Winter Palace to the Emperor and Imperial family, 
by especial request of his majesty. There were 
present about thirty persons, besides the Emperor, 
Empress, the Crown Prince, and the Princess Dagmar. 
The manifestations were very powerful, and gave the 
most complete satisfaction to all present. By request 
of his majesty, several persons were admitted into the 
cabinet with the Brothers, one of them being the 
Crown Prince ; by his request he was tied and untied 



214 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

while iu the cabinet, in contact with the Brothers, 
also receiving many manifestations which convinced 
him of the fact that there was some power independent 
of the Brothers. The manifestations continued for 
jtwo hours and a half, and at the conclusion, the Em- 
peror and Empress expressed their satisfaction with 
the seance, thanking us very cordially and asking 
many questions. 

In all probability we shall remain in Bussia until 
April, and then return to Paris to attend the great 
Exhibition. The Brothers, as well as myself, are some- 
what anxious to return to our native country, but we 
feel hardly justified in doing so at present, as 
there seems to be no end to the amount of work to 
be done by us in Europe. 

Yours truly, Wm, M. Fay. 



SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 215 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Concluding Remarks 

It must be obvious to every one that a close in- 
timacy with the Davenports would enable an ob- 
server of ordinary intelligence to detect their 
modus operandi if anything of the character of le- 
gerdemain were practised by them. In concluding 
my experience I can truly say, that during the 
whole time I was with them, extending over a 
period of seven months, I never saw aught to in- 
dicate that they were anything but passive instru- 
ments, the manifestations being produced by a 
power outside themselves. Indeed, I feel quite 
sure they could not accomplish these things by 
natural means without being detected every week 
t}f their lives ; and I give it as my deliberate con- 
viction after all the opportunities I have had of 
forming an opinion, that their manifestations are 
a reality ; if they are not, then all creation is a 
myth and our senses nothing worth. 

I have witnessed the manifestations in public 
and in private ; in the dark and in the light. I 
have known at least three hundred different per- 
sons enter the cabinet, not one of whom has as- 



216 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

serted that the Davenports moved in the slightest 
degree. I have seen a light struck several times 
while the instruments were being carried in the 
air, but no one was ever found out of his place. 
I have known, in addition to the marking of the 
position of the feet, other precautions taken to en- 
sure their not moving from their seat. I have 
witnessed several conclusive tests, some of which 
I have alluded to, proving beyond all doubt that 
they do not participate by their active agency in 
the production of the phenomena. The coat of 
Mr. Fay has, scores of times, been taken from 
his back in my presence, and Mr. Fay at the time 
might be seen sitting like a statue with his hands 
securely tied behind him and the knots sealed. I 
have seen coats of various descriptions, from a large 
overcoat to a light paletot, put on in the place of 
his own in a moment of time, his hands remaining 
securely tied and the seal unbroken. I have 
known the coat that has been placed on Mr. Fay 
so small that it could only with difficulty be got 
off him. I have known a coat that was first placed 
on Mr. Fay transferred in a moment to the back 
of Ira Davenport, whose hands like Mr. Fay's 
were tied behind him, and the most curious part 
of the proceedings was, that it was put on inside 
out. I have also known the waistcoat of Ira Da- 
venport taken from under his coat, all buttoned- 
up with his watch and guard just as he wore it. 
It will of course be urged that these things are 
physical impossibilities. Such they undoubtedly 
are • they nevertheless take place ; how they are 
accomplished we cannot, with our present know- 
ledge of the properties of matter, even begin to 
understand. They of course involve the passage 
of matter through matter and therefore seem to 



SPIRITUAL EXPEDIENCES. 217 

favour a theory that has been recently put forth 
that what we regard as matter is only force. This 
fact I consider the greatest marvel this age of mar- 
vels has witnessed, and instead of being sneered afc 
and derided by scientific men should engage their 
profoundest consideration. I may also mention 
that on leaving a room in which I had been with 
Ira Davenport for the purpose of talking with the 
spirits a chair followed me into the passage, myself 
being the last to leave ; and on one occasion whilst 
sitting cross-legged in the front row at the Dark 
Seance, I was grasped round the leg above the 
ancle and forcibly pulled on to the floor 

I have now finished my narrative, which is, for 
the most part, a simple and unpretending record of 
facts of a very unusual, and, I may say, very 
wonderful character, so much so that they will 
doubtless be altogether discredited by the major- 
ity of my readers. They are nevertheless true in 
every particular, and in no instance that I am 
aware of, have I drawn on my imagination or 
exaggerated in the slightest degree. I do not 
put forth this little book, like one of Dieken's 
Christmas ghost stories, which leaves the mind in 
doubt whether it is meant for fact or fiction, but 
as sober, solemn truth. Most of the conversations 
recorded are taken from notes made at the time ; 
the general facts which form the subject of my 
book have been witnessed and are accredited by 
thousands. Did these facts rest on my experience 
only, I might perhaps hesitate in giving them to 
the world ; but as they are now fast becoming 
recognized by the intelligent part of the commu- 
nity, I do not scruple to publish what so many 
beside myself have perfect assurance of. I make 
no attempt to theorise or to draw deductions from 



218 SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. 

these facts; or to reconcile the more obvious 
deductions with the prevailing theologic views 
with which they may be considered to conflict ;— 
this I leave for others, more able than'myself, to do. 
My own belief is, that these manifestations are 
the work of disembodied human intelligences, 
and that they are made for some great purpose ; 
and though such work for spiritual beings, may 
not be in accordance with our preconceived 
notions of such beings, or the evidence 
afforded by the manifestations of such a des- 
cription as their alleged purpose would seem to 
warrant, still.it is questionable whether a more 
effectual and suitable method could be devised of 
combating the hard-headed materialism of the 
times and convincing men that there is something 
in the universe besides matter. A knock on the 
head with a guitar by unseen agency is, to some 
minds, a much more effective argument than the 
logic oi a Locke, and it is not for us to call that 
" common and unclean " which has been the means 
of convincing thousands of the reality of a spiritual 
world and will ultimately shake the citadel of ma- 
terialism to its foundations. This is not the first 
time that things foolish in the estimation of tbe 
wise have been used to confound their presumed 
wisdom, and it may be that these derided and 
despised phenomena will ultimately be the means, 
in the hands of Providence, of revolutionizing 
men's thoughts and feelings with regard to their 
cherished theologies and philosophies and of 
inaugurating an era of progress in the future of 
humanity,;in which shall be realized correct er views 
of the duties pertaining to this life, and of the 
nature of that higher life to come. 



SPIBITUAL EXPERIENCES. 219 

The age for damning, dogmatising, creeds, 
Thanks to the power of truth, has passed away ; 
For man hath nobler thoughts and higher needs 
And more exalted purposes to day : 
From the Soul's garden he tears up the weeds 
Of idle disputation and display. 
Not words intolerant, but the bright array 
Of generous impulses and holy deeds 
Are the bright evidence of saving faith, 
The best obedience to his law who saith, — 
" Seek for the Truth inquiringly — nor fear 
The guidance which from truth's great source 

sublime 
Leads wandering man thro' the rude # tracks of 

time ' 

To that Eternity, where all is clear. 

Sir John Bowring. 



• 



o 



ENGLISH WOEKS ON SPIEITTJALISM. 

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